


Keep My Pretty Mouth Shut

by adoribiliusKermode



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: @Yaushie's Twin AU, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Twins, Arranged Marriage, Cheating, Don't be fooled by the Lukanette tag they're exes, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Genderswap, Inspired by Roleplay/Roleplay Adaptation, Love Triangles, Modern Royalty, Pining, Politics, Road Trips, Slow Burn, that Adrien/Luka tag is Adrienne/Luka BTW
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2019-07-02 01:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 55,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15786351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adoribiliusKermode/pseuds/adoribiliusKermode
Summary: Marin's sure his fianceé hates him.Adrienne's sure that her fianceé's a bit of a dick.Marinette's sure that an arranged marriage doesn't imply a loveless one.And Adrien's sure that this is going to be fun to watch.One thing they're all sure of: they absolutely cannot fuck this up.





	1. Tetrapatriate

Marin Dupain, Heir Presumptive of the Kingdom of Occitania, had just finished a successful freshman year at Princeton and was settling into a long summer with friends in upstate New York when the message arrived from his father: they had secured a match for him. _Expected._ Unusual for its time, but expected.

The match was with Adrienne Agreste, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of France. _Unexpected._

Historically, the French and their southern neighbors had been constant rivals. Even today, noted Marin, the two countries were so different. The French were known to be very cold and conservative, whereas the Occitans were the ones to open their borders to thousands of refugees and immigrants from across the world. France was wealthy and developed-Occitania, while not precisely poor by any standard, didn’t exactly have the most advanced economy in the world.

This marriage proposal between Marin and Adrienne would change the dynamic with the two nations-in some ways, their dynamic would end entirely. With this match, France and Occitania would be one country, in a personal union.

The day after he touched down at Toulouse International Airport, Marin sat down alone at the end of a long conference table, reflecting on the whirlwind of the last twenty-four hours. He was whisked away the minute he got that phone call, flown home, prepared himself to meet his future life partner after five hours of sleep, and had signed the ‘yes, you can marry me away to some woman I’ve never met before’ papers, barely even getting a cup of coffee as respite.

It was then he heard footsteps. Not the clomping of dress shoes or loafers, but the light tapping and clacking of heels.  _Crap._

He felt his heart nearly jump out of his chest. As he heard the clacks get louder and louder, he fished a small pill from his inside breast pocket and placed it on his tongue, washing it down with a glass of water on the table in front of him. The clacks got louder. Marin straightened his tie nervously and jumped to his feet as he heard the door swung open to reveal-

“Marin!”

“Oh, thank god. It’s you.”

“Who did you think it was, huh?” Marin narrowed his eyes. “Oh, yeah. Her. Don’t worry; her car hasn’t even pulled up.” Marin sighed in relief as he saw a petite girl who stood at one hundred fifty-seven and a half centimeters, only ten centimeters shorter than her brother. She was probably the person he was looking forward to seeing the most-and the only reason why he was glad about cutting his trip short.

Marinette had already been back from Toulouse from Paris [4] a few days before her brother got back. She'd flown back home to help oversee negotiations of her brother's betrothal until he could be present himself. _As well as my own betrothal_ , she thought-she was to be wed to the twin brother of the Crown Princess, Adrien Agreste, concurrently to her brother. With two sons, two daughters, and no cousins on either side of the relationship, it seemed almost too good to be true.

So far, she couldn't be angry about what was happening. As far as she knew, the royal children were exceptions to the rule of the strict French stereotype, and they gave every indication that they wanted to do better than previous generations

For now, she was making her way into a conference to oversee and put in pointers here and there. She stepped into the room, ready for a long, boring meeting when she saw her brother standing alone in the conference room. Her expression immediately shifted, and she looked relieved. "I didn't know you'd be here so soon. Thank god."

"Are you all right?" Marin walked over and hugged Marinette.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened?"

"We just signed the betrothal papers. Papa and King Gabriel are heading out for a press conference, along with Prime Minister Bustier and Bourgeois." Marin looked at the door. His lips remained pursed as if concentrating his gaze to make the door open. It remained closed. "They left the ironing out of some official details of the new constitution to us. And…to them.” Wasn't very hard to know who 'them' was.

Marinette hugged him back, sighing softly but keeping the smile on her face. "I'm fine. It's just been a lot this week, between meetings and preparing for press conferences and interviews. People are already asking about wedding details, and I don't even have a ring yet," she said, running a hand through her hair before moving the hand even further back, settling into the Dupain family’s nervous tic of scratching the back of one’s neck.

“Yeah. It looks like this is happening sooner than we thought.”

“How are you doing with all this?" She queried her brother with a worried look on her face, making sure her twin would make it through his betrothal alright.

Marin walked over to the window overlooking the Place Dupain, over which the Palais Dupain loomed. A massive cast-iron Occitan cross was built into the center of the square. "How am I doing? I don't know, Marinette. I mean, I've been raised to be constantly on my toes about her since birth. And then, twenty-four hours ago, I was whisked away from my cozy little Chateau on Lake George and told that I’m going to marry her in four years-not that I have any say in it. And aside from being a princess, she's also a model, and a head taller than me to boot. I'd say I'm pretty nervous.”  He turned to Marinette. "Why, what about you? You spent the year at design school in Paris, so you probably met Adrien like, once or twice."

Marinette followed his gaze before pacing the room, eventually ending next to Marin at the window. "I feel bad to say it, but I'm doing kind of great. Adrien and I...ran into each other once or twice, or-a few times, what with him being a model and a prince and me being-“

“Marinette.” She sighed. “What I’m trying to say is that he's nice, and I think it'll work out for us. Plus, he's been an excellent model for my designs," she said, smiling at the thought of the prince. _Her_ prince. "And I've also met Adrienne once or twice. She seems nice, at least on the surface. But we'll find out when we have our official meetings tonight, right?"

Marin groaned. "Is that when they get here? You should have come to the States with me to study-"

"You know why I went to Paris-" She started to respond when he cut her off. "Wait, Marinette." Marin turned to his sister to see that her cheeks shared the color of the bottle of Rosé that lay on the table. "Do you like him? Like, like like him? You haven't looked like that since you ran off on me with Luka Couffaine at that garden party back when we were seventeen." Her face somehow went from white to pink to red as she felt a strange mix of betrayal, rage, regret, and dread in the base of her stomach as she did whenever the topic of _Luka_ was dredged up. "Look, Marin, I might. I don't know if he likes me yet. But we're supposed to be married, so it's neither here nor there.”

“And Luka-”

“As for _Luka_ , that was just a little dalliance when we were children," she defended, looking back to him with a fire in her eyes. Marin raised an eyebrow as if to question that assertion. Technically, it was only a few years ago, and much, _much_ more than a ‘childhood dalliance,’ but who was really checking?

"Alright." Marin walked over to the table and poured himself a glass of wine. He walked back to the window, where Marinette was overlooking the square. They could see a black town car with bulletproof windows and the French flag speeding across the square (rolling right over the cross, no less) flanked by crowds waving both the French and Occitan flags. It was the Prince…and the Crown Princess. Marin cleared his throat. He saw them too.

He leaned in and whispered very quickly into Marinette’s ear. ”You realize we can take partners, right? Outside of our official marriage?” Marinette's eyes trailed to the car that was pulling up to the entrance of the Palace. Adrien got out first, letting a hand stretch back into the car to let his sister out. Marinette turned her attention back to her brother. “What do you mean?”

“Marriages aren't exactly affairs of the heart when you're royalty."

Her heart did a leap. She knew exactly what he was talking about, though her heart ached at the prospect. She let out a deep sigh, poured her own glass, and shot half of it down the hatch. ”I know, but…I don't know. It could be good. Maybe it'll work about between Prince Adrien and I. And if not, well, then...I have my work," she said, coming back to stand next to her brother. "I guess I'm still coming to terms with the whole thing, I never thought about-”

"Me too." Marin reached an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close as they could hear a pair of footsteps of varying timbres and volumes approach their door. One was the sound of dress shoes walking down, but the one accompanying it was the unmistakable pitch of a pair of four-inch spiked heels. "Stay strong. We're Dupains. Let's show these  french bimbos what we're made of."

Marinette straightened up, put on a smile, and stepped away. "We'll handle this like a piece of cake. Come on, the cameras are bound to be waiting." She turned to be ready for the meeting, prepared to ace this with as much grace as she could muster.

A guard walked in, holding the door open for twins who needed no introduction. "Their royal highnesses, Adrienne Agreste, Princess of Brittany, and Adrien, Prince Royal."

 _Them and about a dozen reporters, but who’s counting?_   Marin turned around, his winning smile already twitching.

The first thing Marinette noticed was that their intendeds were very tall-and thus, physically imposing. Adrien’s shoulders weren’t quite as broad as Marin’s, but he was easily fifteen centimeters taller.

Marinette kept herself as composed as possible, her face seemingly lighting up more as the pair entered the room. Thankfully, they were only letting in a limited amount of press for now. It was bound to get worse. Marinette’s eyes scanned Adrienne as she walked up to her: slim and tall.  "It's so nice to see you both, your royal highnesses." Marinette greeted them both.

Adrien practically ran up to his fiancé, and, after bowing to kiss her hand and giving her a quick 'Your Highness,' hugged her, separating to clutch her shoulders tightly while looking down into her eyes. "Marinette! How've you been?”

Marinette giggled when Adrien came up to her. She gave a curtsy as he bowed, then hugged him back tightly. She was still smiling when they pulled away. "Adrien. I'm doing great! How about you?"

Adrienne watched her brother eagerly approach Marinette, before moving to her own fianceé. She kept her posture up, offering him a smile as the cameras clicked and snapped away. 

"Prince Marin. It's nice to finally properly meet you," she said, holding out a hand for him to shake, but keeping a slight amount of distance between them.

The first thing that Marinette took note of was Adrienne’s voice, and how unnatural it was. Whereas Adrien’s tone was moderate and natural, Adrienne’s voice sounded like poisoned honey-a honey so smooth and saturated with sugar that one could call it fake if they didn’t know any better. It was a high and sweet yet sultry mezzo, one that belied some hidden secrecy that made most men swoon. And it was clear for Marinette that Adrienne expected Marin to be like most men.

Marin took Adrienne's hand and accepted the handshake, before looking up to see her-she was at least ten centimeters taller than he was. "Your Highness. It's nice to finally meet my lady wife in person. How was the flight over?" Marinette noticed that Marin’s tone of voice had also changed. It had dropped about an octave and a half. Instead of his usual high voice (which still had the occasional crack at nineteen years old), he switched to a distinctly lower voice with a small vocal fry at the end. Marinette remembered that this was something that he only did when he was trying to impress people.

Marin kept on his winning smile, remembering that Adrienne was putting up just as much of a façade for him as he was for her.

Adrienne retracted her hand after a moment, answering smoothly. "Comfortable, save for the turbulence. And how was yours? You flew all the way from America, if I recall?" She asked, continuing to keep her act up. Maybe they'd talk like ordinary people behind closed doors, but for now, it was idle small talk because reporters would be putting every word they said into their articles.

Marin chuckled. "You've done your homework. I'm reading history at Princeton, so, uh-yeah." He shrugged and chuckled a bit. "So, should we kick these reporters out? No offense to you, but I'd want to get this meeting over with. Get ready for the official gala tonight as soon as possible.” Marin grinned to himself. These two models were probably just a couple of airheads, and Marin was going to rock these negotiations.

Adrienne arched a brow. She looked as grateful as one so serious could look. "I think that would be a lovely idea, Prince Marin. After all, constitutional negotiations aren’t nearly as sexy as tonight’s gala is going to get."

“Tonight’s gala’s gonna get sexy?” Adrienne gave an audible hum to Marin before looking to her brother and Marinette for their opinion.

Adrienne wouldn’t get an answer from either of them. Marinette was still happily chatting with Adrien with a smile plastered onto her face. "My gosh, Marinette, I've missed you so much! Sorry I didn't have a chance to meet up with you before, with finals and everything. It's been a crazy couple of months."

"It's fine! I ended up spending most of my time studying and finishing projects, anyways. I don't think it would have been too fun."

Adrien interlocked his fingers with Marinette’s. "Is there anything special you wanted to do this summer before we go back to Paris?"

Marinette shook her head at his question, leaning into Adrien’s side. “I can't say anything specific, but maybe we can sneak off for a day so I can share Toulouse with you? Otherwise, we'll have to see as we go." She suggested to him.

"Alright. it's a date." Adrien squeezed Marinette's hand and sat down next to his sister, smiling across the table at his betrothed. Marinette smiled at him, before taking her seat next to Marin as he immediately launched into his proposal. “Your Highness, I’ve been meeting with my father and Prime Minister Bustier…”

The proposal was comprehensive. A united parliament, an elective method of succession, Paris as the capital and France as the official name of the country, and the construction of a new cross-country TGV line from Paris to Marseilles. The most drastic change would be a reduction in Royal power, aside from ceremonial powers, royal pardons, the ability to call snap elections, and an advisory role in the cabinet.

Marin allowed himself a slightly devilish grin as he sat back down, expecting Adrienne and Adrien to simply sign on the dotted line and be done with it. Marinette remained mostly hands-off with this proposal, seeing as she had no intention to inherit at all. The closest she came to power was tagging along with her father when she visited, and that was only to spend time with her father.

Meanwhile, Adrienne went through the entire contract thoroughly, going through it with a fine-toothed comb as she marked it up, her brow furrowing as she analyzed the proposals. She understood that they'd both have to make compromises, _but this looks like..._

“Your Highness, all due respect, but how stupid do you think I am?” Her voice maintained that sugary sweetness as she shut him down. Marin looked up from his sheaf of papers.

“I’m sorry?”

“This looks like we're becoming Occitania in everything but name," she stated bluntly before launching into her counterproposal. She kept the united parliament, but also kept the line of succession. She also objected to the idea of reducing royal power. _We’re not like Occitania_ , she remembered her father once saying to her. _We know how to wield real power. They would have anyone wield it. And that is why they will always fail_.

Marin smirked. "Adrienne, no offense, but I just don't see what business a model has running a country. Listen; I lived in America for a year, I know what it's like when you have a celebrity as the head of state. It doesn't end well."

Adrienne returned the smirk, though it was far more sinister. “Marin, Mare-bear-can I call you Mare-bear? I’ll call you Mare-bear-I may be a model right now, but you should remember I was born into a world of politics. I know what I've been raised to do, and I'm going to do it," she told him, before adding on. "And need I remind you, I already have the throne. You only have yours because your sister doesn't want it. No offense, Marinette.”

Marin reminded himself of another difference between their two countries; Adrienne could comfortably claim to be Queen by being born two hours ahead of Adrien. Marin could worry about Parliament potentially voting in Marinette as Queen instead of him when his father died. _Which will never happen,_ thought Marin-he’d been groomed for sovereignty since the age of five. Marinette tried her best to keep down a smirk that was slowly twitching on her face. “None taken.”

Marin raised an eyebrow. She was good. Alrighty then. "I see where you're coming from. But I also hope you see where I’m coming from.”

“Which I can.”

“So, here's a choice. You either get to keep your royal powers or the law of succession. You can't have both.”

Adrienne crossed her arms. She could protest it, but it was a fair deal. That was something she couldn't deny. Adrien looked between the two. Rather than negotiating a marriage contract, he was more interested in how this would go. Finally, the tension broke. "We’ll keep the law of succession," Adrienne finally said, sighing to herself. She knew this would be hard, but she'd rather her family stay as figureheads with influence than absolute power.

Marin let out another sigh of relief. _Oh, I just can't wait to be king._ He turned to Marinette. "What about you? Anything more we should add?" Marinette was too focused on Adrien. "Marinette." Marin gave Adrienne a look before tapping on the table right in front of his sister, to get her attention. "Marinette. Anything else we should consider?"

Marinette snapped herself out of it, shaking her head. "No, not at all. That sounds good. Great, even!" She said, smiling at the two. In all seriousness, she could care less what the negotiations would be. She was smitten with Adrien and had no intention of ruling anything beyond her design studio in the distant future.

Marin cleared his throat. "Great." He stood up, and Adrienne, almost mechanically, did the same. "It's been a pleasure. See you...tonight?"

Adrienne stood, extending her hand for a handshake. Instead of a handshake, Marin leaned down and took Adrienne’s hand, laying a kiss on the space just above her ring finger. Adrienne’s face suddenly felt a little warmer from the gesture. She dispelled it as quickly as it had come and shook her head with a sharp _a-hem_. “Um-I'll see you tonight, then. Adrien." Adrienne nodded to both of them before turning to exit the room. Adrien squeezed Marinette’s hand before moving to follow her out of the room.


	2. How to Incite a Diplomatic Incident and Feel Good About it the Next Morning

"Which one?" Marin held up a pair of bow ties in front of Marinette. "Black, or red?” Marinette turned around from her makeup desk, eyed the bow ties, then eyed him. "What color is your suit? If it's black, go with the red. Any other color, wear the black. Otherwise, you'll look like an idiot."

"Right. Red it is." Marin turned around holding his tie up, nonverbally asking Marinette to hook it around for him. "Thank you for doing my makeup," Marinette said.

"Oh, no problem." She grinned. "You want me to do yours?" Marin paused, holding up his tie while looking up at the ceiling as if to seriously think about it. "Hm. No, not really. Probably not tonight."

"Oh, okay. Not even foundation?"

"Nah, it's all good."

"Okay. Suit yourself." Marinette stepped over around him and fastened the bow tie. "How about Adrienne, huh?"

"She's going to make a great wife,” Marinette joked. Marin turned his head around, giving Marinette her a withering look out of the corner of his eye. She lightly smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder after she finished putting on his bow tie. “She'll be a good queen when she starts looking out for people other than Adrienne Agreste."

"Oh, come on, so will your favorite brother-"

“ _Only_ brother-”

“-favorite brother.” Marin turned around and smiled. His smile faded a little but returned to its former brightness when he saw how happy his sister was. "At least someone's happy with their arrangement."

"I never said you weren't. You'll do great, Marin." She smiled. Marin cleared his throat as he inspected himself in the mirror for the last time. "Now, what do you think her boyfriend is going to be like?"

"I'll bet he's just as prissy as her.” Marinette smacked her brother lightly on the arm. “You know that one gold bracelet you have? If I'm right about him, I want it. That way I'll have a matching set," she said, not so serious about the boyfriend, but very serious about the bracelet. "I heard that Adrien's going alone."

"Well, aren't you lucky?" Marin extended his arm to Marinette. "You realize this is the last social event where you're going to be my date, right?"

Marinette smoothed out her dress and took his arm, looking down to see it matched her brother’s suit. It was her design-black with a red belt streaking across it. To finish the look, she had a black clasp affixed to the belt. The dress stopped at half past her knees-a little childish, Marinette supposed, but she could get away with that. "I know. At least we'll still be able to see each other. Maybe even more often, since we'll be living on the same continent again," she told him with a smile as she took his arm.

 _The same continent._ That reminded him. "I can't wait to go back to America.” America, where he wouldn’t have to worry about a loveless engagement. Marinette immediately picked up on the tension. "Don't worry. It's just one summer; then you'll be off again,” Marinette told him, her voice somewhat sad as her brother led her down the stairs and out of the door of their little townhouse. She wiped the expression away the moment they were outside, and she once more had her princess smile on. _Showtime._

Marin and his sister walked across the street and the adjoining square into the Palais Dupain-the _official_ Royal Palace of Occitania-their path lined with a red carpet and barricades lined with a few reporters. They both entered through the front gate and went into the main foyer, where their parents-and King Gabriel-were waiting. Marin gave a small bow to the three of them. "Father. Mother. Your Majesty.” Marinette followed suit with a curtsy of her own.

Marin leaned up from the bow with an earnest smile, looking up at his soon-to-be father-in-law, extending his hand for Gabriel to shake. "Sir, let me be one of the first to introduce you to Toulouse.”

Marinette could tell that his daughter took after him, based on the expression he was giving the room. Gabriel looked down at his son-in-law. “Your Highness [2], I think your betrothed should be deserving of your concern, rather than myself.”

Marin and his father exchanged a look before Marin looked up at Gabriel. “Begging your pardon, sir, but I thought she took to Occitania quite nicely.” Gabriel’s neck and head were unmoving, his tone clipped as per usual. “I wasn’t referring to your country, Prince Marin.” Marinette started to tug at Marin’s sleeve, and Marin began to follow her lead, giving out an almost noiseless ‘Enjoy the party, sir,’ before escaping Gabriel’s watchful gaze.

Marin and Marinette kept walking into the main ballroom. "Father and Daughter, huh? I didn't know what I signed up for, did I?"

Marinette flashed one last smile to them, before entering the ballroom with her brother. When she spoke, she spoke in soft tones, careful to not be overheard. "I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Marin pointed his sister out to Adrien, who just noticed the two of them from across the room. "That one does."

Marinette's face lit up once more when Adrien approached them.  Adrien gave Marinette what could only be described as a bear hug, before looking up at Adrien. Adrien turned to Marin. "Hey, bro!"

Marin shifted uncomfortably at the 'bro' part, before returning his attention to Adrien. "Do you mind if I steal your date?" Marin looked at Marinette's reddening smile and grinned an unsteady grin. "She's your date now. Bro." Marinette nodded at her brother. ”Try not to have too much fun without me!”

“Right back at you!” Marinette winked at her brother before going off with Adrien. Adrien whisked Marinette away to a corner of the room, where they could be photographed but not mobbed. "So.” Adrien scanned Marinette up and down, a smile growing back on his face. “I have to say, I love your dress! You designed it yourself, didn't you?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I did! I was worried it wouldn't be right for tonight, but I think it worked out." She scanned him up and down, looking for faults in his outfit and finding none. "And you amazing too!"

"Does it? I think I look ridiculous in a tux." _He's a model!_

"How can you say that? I've never seen anyone look better in a tux." Marinette responded. _Adrien could be wearing a chicken suit, and I’d still be impressed._

“How about...I'm not going to argue with the fashion designer. How about that?" Adrien shrugged before grabbing two flutes of Champagne off of a passing server. "I'm sorry, do you drink? Cause I would hate to down both of these all alone."

Marinette laughed, happily accepting one of them. "You're in luck. I do drink when the occasion is right," she told him, taking the flute and indulging in a sip. 

Across the room, it looked like Adrienne had finally arrived into view, clutching the arm of a tall and lanky boy with jet black hair. 

Marinette froze when she saw him, the blood in her heart turning to ice. 

She’d know that dye job anywhere.

_Luka?_

She took a step back, her mouth going dry. She had no idea that Adrienne would be dating Luka, of all people-and even less of an idea that she would have the gall to parade him around at a social event celebrating her betrothal.

Adrien gave a small sigh as he heard a rush of photographers. He didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. "It's Adrienne, isn't it?"

Marinette nodded, looking over his shoulder. "You guessed it. She, uh-looks amazing," she said, eyeing the outfit that she was wearing. The arrival of the princess didn't seem to kill her mood in any way, though. What did kill the mood, at least for Marinette, was the boy-now a man, Marinette supposed-who was Adrienne’s plus-one.

"Please tell me she isn't with anyone." Adrien's hand started shaking a little bit.

"She, uh-she has a nice boy on her arm.” Marinette’s tone was clipped. “Luka?”

“Yep.” Marinette finally noticed his hand. She took his free hand and gave it a squeeze, reassuring Adrien despite her own anxiety and heartache at seeing Luka in the flesh for the first time in years. "Adrien, what's wrong?"

"Mari, I'm fine. What about your brother?"

"Well, he didn’t even know that Adrienne even _had_ a boyfriend, but he doesn’t seem to mind," Marinette said, looking across the room to her brother. Adrienne was too busy posing with her boyfriend- _boyfriend?_ -to notice Marin right away.

Marinette's hand reached for Adrien's as she looked up to him. "Luka. I used to know him,” she vaguely explained, eyes diverting from the couple across the room. Knowing was an understatement-she  _loved_ Luka. Her expression shifted quickly as cameras flashed. _Princess smile, Marinette. Look nothing but happy with Adrien._ Her eyes were scanning for Marin, to see how he was doing. 

Marin hadn't noticed Adrienne, much to Marinette's relief. He was too busy talking to a reporter about the various deals that were struck, not even seeing Luka. Adrien put his hand on Marinette's shoulder, his eyebrow raised. "Used to know him? Is...there a story there?"

Marinette ignored Adrien, sighing in relief when she saw her brother hadn't noticed yet. Even if he said he was okay with partners outside of his marriage, she could tell it would make him a little uneasy-and he’d be especially uneasy when said partners were being paraded around at public social events. Her attention went back to Adrien after a moment. "It's nothing serious. I uh, had a thing with him when we were teenagers. But you don't have to worry. It's over now."

Adrien chuckled, moving so that he was facing Marinette. "Are you sure? You seem pretty fixated on him right around now. And I'm not blaming you if you've still got a flame for Luka Couffaine."

Marinette thought about Luka. Luka Couffaine was the son of a minor Occitan countess who used his mother's connections to secure an album deal with Jagged Stone's record company-around the time that he and Marinette dated. So, Marinette was the one who was the least surprised when it turned out that Luka actually had talent. "Marinette?" Marinette was cut off in her musings by Adrien, holding up a full glass of wine. "Champagne?"

Marinette smiled at him, taking the drink and lightly raising it to her lips. "It's been a long time since I've even seen him, Adrien. I'm just surprised that he's here..." she explained, leaving it at that for now. She didn't  _think_ there was anything left for Luka, but who knows? They hadn't spoken in years. She accepted the glass, sipping it slowly. "Come on, it looks like a few reporters are coming over," she said, straightening up for the inevitable questions they were about to be asked. Adrien sighed, looking at Marin with an awkward glance before following his fianceé. Marin continued to speak with the reporter, not noticing Adrienne or Luka. _Yes, ignorance is bliss._

Marinette kept her winning smile on, listening to each question and answering them with bullet precision. She kept her own answers vague, but enough detail that the reporters would be satisfied for now. _God, I hate interviews._

Adrienne was the perfect princess with Luka as her knight in shining cotton, answering questions from various journalists and chatting with guests and hangers-on at the gala. Marin took her in, while still speaking with the reporter. 

She was dazzling, clad in a dark green mermaid dress cut out of velvet. It was a simple design, but she could still work with it. The only adornment in the design was a built-in choker, but Marin could see it also cut low in the back. Marinette would definitely approve, thought Marin. She was making her way across the room, not having yet noticed Marin. He cleared his throat once more as he looked back at the reporter.

“And I mean, of course, it's not going to be the smoothest transition in the world, with six hundred years of shared history and small cultural barriers. Yes, we both speak French, but clearly language does not one singular national identity make-" Marin was noticing Adrienne barreling towards him on a collision course of which she wasn't aware of, and...no. _No, no, no. Hell no._ Marin felt his heart quicken and his blood come to a low simmer.

Him?

Adrienne had her head turned toward Luka as the pair walked. They were whispering about something. Luka looked head over heels for the model on his arm, as if nothing was wrong in the world.

Adrienne turned to look ahead again and saw her dearest fiance not to far off. "Mare-bear! Hello," she greeted, seeming much kinder tonight than she had in the meeting. Still, her voice was still possessed by sweet oozing honey from before. Either Luka brought out the nicer side in her, or she was once more acting for the cameras.  

Either way, Luka’s own nicer side seemed to be genuine. "Marin! Bro! What's up!" Luka greeted, smiling at Marin. He seemed totally unfazed by the predicament.

Marin took a deep calming breath at these people calling him 'bro' simply because they dated his sister. He nodded at the reporter. "Any more questions can be forwarded to my personal secretary. Enjoy the party."

Marin turned back to Luka and Adrienne. "Luka! Hey!" He gave the most guileless smile and brought in Luka for a small hug, turning his face to look up at Adrienne. He shot her a black glare before turning to Luka with that same smile. "So how've you been? I haven't seen you since you played the Garden back in March!" 

 _Completely different circumstances back then_ , thought Marin. One of Marin's friends had backstage passes, and they got to see each other in a meeting that was friendly, considering everything else that had happened between them. "Yeah, it's been that long, hasn’t it? I heard you just got out of college! That's pretty sweet."

Luka hadn't expected the prince at his gig there, but they all seemed nice enough. Enough to call friends, maybe. Or the closest thing that they could be to friends. "I've been great! Careers' been good, I just wrapped up that tour you just saw last month.” There was a small clipped silence, before Luka went on. "So, what have you been up to?"

Marin gave a theatrical groan. "Oh god, me? Just studying, finals, working towards that degree-yeah, between the parties and the all-nighters, college is pretty harsh. I think I might have developed a Dunkin Donuts addition."

"Sounds rough, buddy. My mom keeps pestering me to get a degree in something, but music is my life right now." Marin shrugged. "Dude, you do you. I mean, they're calling you Jagged Stone's protegee, I mean, I think that would be enough of an education. You're the one who gets to decide your life, unlike this guy over here." Marin pointed to himself to accentuate his point as he turned to Adrienne, knowing that she's having to see her boyfriend and her fianceé acting amicably-and probably hating it. "Oh, yeah! How could I forget? Personal union, marriage, getting used to this whole ball-and-chain thing. Yeah, I thought this was going to be a relaxing summer." Luka started laughing, which led Marin to the elephant in the room. "By the way, I didn't know you were dating my fianceé! How long have you two been together?"

Adrienne shot him an icy look, but otherwise didn't falter in appearances. She could argue with both of them later, behind closed doors, when reporters weren't recording their every move. Luka didn’t seem to notice Marin’s small bite. “Oh, yeah!” Luka looked to Adrienne. _He looks so fond of her._ It was almost the look Marinette gave Adrien. Almost, but not quite. "We met when I was doing some promo stuff for my latest album last year. We've only been official a few months, though. I didn't realize that you were the one engaged to her. That's so cool, man!"

Marin looked at Adrienne with a smug little smile, pleased that for the first time he got a rise out of his fianceé. Boy, did she seem mad, her hand curled into a tight, white-knuckled ball. Marin reached out and placed a hand on her arm. "How're you enjoying the party, your highness?"

 _It seems so smooth talking with Marin_ , thought Luka. So smooth that Luka didn't even notice Adrienne mentally wishing she could murder them both and then go home. So when the attention was turned back to her, it was hard keeping a pleasant expression. "I'm having a _wonderful_ time, Marin! Luka and I have been talking to reporters for most of it, so far, but anything with him is simply amazing. He's just the greatest.” She looked up at her boyfriend and placed a hand and a cheek on his chest, turning to reveal that he had a hand on the small of her back the entire time. “How about you? I saw Marinette go off with Adrien. I doubt that's too fun," she said, her tone cheerful, though the sourness in it was undeniable. Marin snorted.

"Speak for yourself. I get to party with my people, who love me to death, I get to see my sister with someone she seems completely smitten with, and we're celebrating the union of our two countries...among other things." He looked around nervously, his carefully composed façade starting to crack. "I'm, uh, really glad you two are happy, you know? Just like I am."

He found his exit. "Enjoy the wine and hors d'oeuvres-they're local Occitan dishes-but I have to get going. Ambassador Tsurugi's daughter is here, and we have a long running debate on whether Ballet and Fencing are sports or art forms." He shook Luka's hand, and ran off. Adrienne called out to him again, perhaps as a parting shot. "I'll see you around, Marin. Have fun!” She frowned. _He probably didn’t even hear that._

Luka looked at Adrienne and raised an eyebrow. "Hey. You okay, babe? You seemed off, ever since you saw Marin here."

Adrienne's face faltered briefly, before she quickly put it back together. She still wasn't happy with the way their contract turned out, but there wasn't much she could do now. She turned to Luka, her expression softening significantly. "I'm fine, sweets. Just wishing I wasn't stuck in this betrothal. At least I have you." She dropped her voice by an octave, the honey in her voice completely gone and her tone more honest than it had been since they'd arrived that day.

But there it was, having picked right back up again. "Look, the Duke of Aquitaine just arrived! We should go talk to them," she said, making her way back toward the front of the room to mingle a bit more. Best to get as many allies as she possibly could right now. 

* * *

Marin kept schmoozing, trying to distract himself from the all-too recent exchange between himself, Luka, and Adrienne. The memory of that conversation slowly but surely started to eat away at him as he attempted to mitigate that by continuing to socialize with the other guests. He was still working the room when he bumped into Marinette. Marinette had been going around, talking to people with Adrien at their side.

They separated eventually, as he'd been pulled into a conversation with a few members of Cabinet while she was discussing her life in Paris to a few ladies. "Marinette. Sorry. Hope your night is going well." She looked up when she bumped into Marin. "Marin, hey! How's your...wait. What's wrong this time?" It wasn't rocket science for her to know something was off about him. He never avoided her like that unless something wasn't right.

Marin shook his head. "Nothing, nothing." He felt the creeping feeling coming up his throat, buried it again, and turned to the Home Secretary, congratulating her for something about a new nondiscriminatory antiterrorism procedure. Marinette knew him, and knew that he was denying something.

Marinette frowned as he turned away from her. She hated it when Marin kept stuff from her of all people. Adrien noticed it too, and gave Marinette a look that said, _What's up?_

Her eyes scanned the room, and she saw Adrienne and Luka laughing together. _Oh._ She was feeling a little down on that image herself. When she saw Adrien's expression, she nodded her head to his sister, then turned back to her own brother. "Marin," Marinette said again, coming up to him again. "Hey, look, it'll be alright," she told him softly, so no one would overhear them.

"Tell that to the fine people at the Daily Mail.” Marin whipped back to his conversation. “Sorry about that ma'am, I'll tell my father to advise cabinet to support the bond measure for the hospital, but I can't do anything directly, my hands are tied..." Marin stopped and turned to Marinette. "Listen. We just have to get through tonight, and we'll discuss things then. Okay?"

Marinette still looked concerned for him. But she relented, and nodded. "Fine. But we _are_ going to discuss things," she told him sternly while gently laying a hand to his arm. "You're not alone in this." She reminded him, before looking up again. It looked like they were about to be approached by the right honorable gentleman what’s-his-name of what’s-his-constituency. It was going to be a long evening.

 


	3. Dupain Family Values

Adrien was fuming when he got into the car. He just dove in for the seat before Adrienne, sitting down and crossing his arms. Adrienne, in high contrast, left the gala with a smile on her face. Outside the car, she kissed Luka on the cheek before returning to the car with her brother, where her good mood was ruined immediately. She could feel the piss and vinegar emanating off of him.

"Adrien, what's wrong? You look like somebody’s got your goat, what’s up?" She closed the door behind her, giving Adrien a look of genuine concern as she took out a water bottle from the door compartment and took a long swig. The car had driven a whole block before Adrien finally opened his mouth. "Why did you think it was necessary to drag Luka along to this? Did you want to piss Marin off that much?"

She frowned, her voice suddenly dropping from that pleasant sweetness to her real voice-something much deeper and raspier than what she presented to everyone else. It was a relief for her to use her natural voice at last "What do you mean? We were free to bring our own dates if we wanted to. And I have an actual relationship with Luka," she said, shocked that he was so angry about it.

"Yeah, but that gala was specifically to celebrate our betrothals. You were free to choose your own date, with the assumption that you would choose your date to be Marin!" Adrien huffed his shoulders. "Listen, what you do behind closed doors I don't care about, but when you parade that guy into our public life, we get slammed. All four of us get slammed, including Marinette.”

“And yourself?”

“Oh, and myself. Do you know what the Daily Mail is going to print tomorrow morning?" Adrien looked at Adrienne with a face utterly devoid of belief.

Adrienne stared ahead the back of the seat in front of her silently for a few minutes, before speaking again. "Luka and I have been publically dating for months, Adrien. Anyone who's seen the news recently knows about him and I. It’s not my fault that neither Marin nor Marinette, who’s Luka’s ex might I add, didn’t know about that.”

“Maybe if we explained the situation to them this morning, we could have talked things over.”

“They shouldn't have been surprised that he was there. It shouldn't be my job to remind you that we're permitted relationships outside of marriage," Adrienne snapped, crossing her own arms. _Just like Father and his ‘Private Secretary,’_ thought Adrienne, but she daren’t say that out loud-she loved her brother too much for that.

Adrien continued his rant: "But you're still not allowed to parade them around in public, not after the betrothal announcement! I don't care about the throne, but I know my stuff." Adrienne kept her lips pursed while Adrien kept pontificating from his moral high ground. "History lesson, Adrienne: King Edward had to abdicate because he couldn't let Wallis Simpson go. Tomorrow's papers are going to be a warning, and that warning is that your little love-fest with Luka won't last forever. You know that even he's gonna move on."

Adrien's words made Adrienne crack at the seams as she sputtered for an answer. "Yeah, well-! I just-Marin's too cold to truly be with. At least Luka isn't an asshole. And I wouldn't be so sure about that. What we have right now is good. I want it to stay that way." Adrienne told him, sinking into her seat. She couldn't see herself with Marin when Marin was too busy getting on her nerves. "I'll be more careful, though, if that'll make you feel better." She eventually relented, looking out the window. She was ready for the day to be over, but Adrien wasn’t done just yet.

"You know, what is your problem with Marin? Have you seen the way he interacts with Marinette? He's not a complete monster." Adrien sighed. "Listen, he's probably just skittish around you because he's heard all sorts of stuff about you, stuff that isn't true. And also, he was told about the betrothal a matter of hours before you first met, just like you-you can't blame him!"

Adrienne started to shake her head. "Well it's not my fault he's too 'skittish' to talk to me. I have to base my opinion on what other people say. And if some of the gossip I hear from Bourgeois’ daughter is true...oh, boy." There was a pause before Adrien raised his voice. "Wait-you can't see yourself with him because he's a head shorter than I am, can’t you?” He started to laugh. “Seriously, is that your main issue with him?"

That look of surprise came back. "Seriously? You're joking, right? That's not it at all! Or...maybe not all of it. Part of it?”

A nasty thought came to Adrien’s head, and he whispered the idea into his twin’s ear. She scrunched up her nose in disgust. “What? Adrien, no! Oh my god, I-no, that’s not it at all."

"What is it, then?"

"Haven’t you noticed the part where they're merging our countries when there's no reason to do so? I just wish that we- you and I- had a bigger say in how all this was playing out."

"Haven’t you noticed that I don't really care? And that maybe the Occitans have the right idea on some issues anyway?”  Adrienne looked at Adrien as if she was about to slap him. “Listen, you have to agree that all of dad's friends are just a bunch of old racist prudes who have to go. And you and Marin have to get those guys out together, and you can't do it if you have some pop star on the side. Alright? Have I made my point?"

"I...can't argue with that." She let out a long sighed, rubbing her temples. "Fine, yes, I get your point. I'll talk to Luka about everything. And Marin. I'll talk to both of them about what we should do." She decided, hoping that would get her brother off her case. At least for tonight. Now to deal with the chewing out from father. 

* * *

As the gala came to an end and the car pulled up to their townhouse, Marinette said her final goodbyes to passing guests leaving the event, with Marin on her arm once more. The moment they were behind closed doors, she dropped her all-too-cool composure and turned to her brother. "You ready to talk now?” she asked, her voice filled with concern for him.

Marin sat down on a chair next to the front door, trying to find a reason for why he was upset, seeing his internal gears turn within his brain to find some form of rationalization. It had to be logical. Had to be. Finally, he found one. "The...the papers."

Marinette nodded, moving to sit next to him. She was careful to not reveal any worry of her own. "I know, I know. But one gala isn't going to destroy us. We'll be able to handle it," she said softly, figuring that wasn't the full story. But he'd tell her as he felt ready.

“Are you sure?" She smiled. "I'm positive. It's not the first time the papers have tried to slander us." She reassured him, doing what she could to lift his spirits. Marin slowly took off his red tie, slowly letting it hand around his shoulders. "You seemed to have had a good time."

She nodded. "I had fun tonight. It was a...well, it was a start to the summer, at least."

"Yeah, a real fun start. How did Adrien take the news that you dated Luka?"

"Better than I expected, actually. I'm glad that he understands," Marinette said, a smile gracing her face. Tonight just solidified whatever feelings she had for Adrien. _Oh, this is going to be an exciting summer indeed._

Marin let out the last bit of tension go before standing up, putting on a face that implied nothing wrong at the gala had ever happened. "So, what's next on the bill for the summer, what else are we doing? Thank god the wedding isn't until I graduate from Princeton."

Marinette sat down in Marin’s chair, lost in thought. She knew they had an official agenda for the summer and was trying to recall what she'd seen of it. "Well, I don't think we have any official royal business planned for tomorrow. So, my suggestion is to spend the day recovering from traveling. You only just got here this morning and today has been...really something special. The day after, Adrien and I have an interview with Nadja Chamack, but she'd never been too tough on me, so she might see him in a more friendlier light than she would Adrienne.” There was a small pause. “And you might not like me for saying this, but you should try to take some time this summer to get to know your future wife." She started, before looking up to him. "Anything I'm completely forgetting?"

"No, it sounds good. Maybe..." Marin grinned. "Okay, call me crazy, but..." Marin stood up to full height so that he was taller than Marinette. "Mari, when was the last time we went down to the summer home in Nice?"

A grin matching Marin's spread across Marinette's face. "I believe that was the spring break before you and I took our BACs. So, too long. Are you really suggesting-" she asked, standing up. That was for sure something to do this summer.

"Okay, you, me, Adrien, and...and her, and...wow, I feel awful about this." Marin started to giggle. A plan was coming to mind, and brother and sister both knew what the other was thinking.

"You know that our parents are going to be against it? Even if they aren’t completely against it, even if I convince them to let us go for the summer, King Gabriel definitely will be." She snickered. "You think we could get away with it?"

"Uh-hell yeah! And I think I could get mom and dad to come around. Listen to this: we need to bring Adrienne around and seriously be on board with this marriage, one hundred percent. And we've been going about it all wrong. We've been a bit too direct when I think we need to make a more subtle approach." Marin stared blankly at Marinette, who stared blankly right back. "I don't follow." 

"What I'm saying is we need her to fall in love with me. For real. I don’t like it either, but what other options do we have?"

"Uh huh. Right. I got you." Marinette slowly nodded her head, wrapping it around the plan. This could be good for them, then. "Alright. The four of us in Nice. Three of us trying to make her fall for you, as long as I can get Adrien on board, which shouldn't be hard. I'll call him about it later," she said, beginning to pace. "So, we're going to do this. By the time you go back to school, you're going to be a happily engaged future king."

Marin snorted, backing away towards the staircase. "Happily engaged? Listen, Mari-this is about seducing her, not me." He started to climb the steps, a spring in his own step. "I'm _not_ in love with her, Mari-have you been paying _any_ attention?"

"Yep. And I'll repeat this," Marinette said as he went off. "You'll be happily engaged by the end of the summer. Just watch." She winked, moving quickly up the stairs alongside him. She gave him a pat on the back and grinned. "I'll see you in the morning, Marin." And with that, she split off from him at the top of the stairs.

Marin sighed as he closed his door behind him, sitting down with his back against the door. _Now to get the parents to agree._

Marinette returned to her room to change out of the dress and into something that wasn't so uncomfortable. As soon as she got into a pair of sweatpants and a tank top, she heard her phone begin to buzz. She went over to her phone, glancing at the screen to see who'd be texting her this late. _Adrien._

She smiled upon seeing who it was, sitting down to answer the message. Her smile fell a little when she saw the actual content of the text. **[Mari, I'm so so so sorry that Adrienne invited Luka to the gala. I know Marin's going to get crucified in the tabloids tmo.]** _Oh. So that’s what this is about._ She quickly sent out a reply. **[I understand, Adrien. I'm worried about what the media's reaction will be, but we still might be able to fix this]**

**[well im still freaked out, cause I have no ideas] Marinette went back to her keyboard. [Well, Marin and I may have come up with something that might help.]**

**[wait, call me. i don't want ppl to potentially see our texts]** There was another three-dot burst, before another message popped on screen. **[plus, I want to hear the melodious sound of your voice :) ]**

Marinette laughed softly, before pressing the call button on her phone. She let it ring for a minute, before speaking. "You're alone right now, right?"

Adrien raised the phone to his ear. "Yeah, I'm alone. At least, I hope so." His tone was light and playful-he was joking. Definitely alone as well.

"Good. So, what's your opinion on me, you, Marin, and Adrienne going on a trip to Nice? Assuming we can clear it with the parents." She suggested.

"Uh...why would we be going to Nice? Aside from me getting to check you out in a bikini, I don't exactly see the point. I mean, as opposed to us just staying here." Adrien reached out for his glass of wine, taking a small sip from it.

"We’re still in Occitania, but it’s not too politicized a place, so it’ll be neutral ground for the most part," she stated, before going on. "And it's a good place to...make friends, bond, that kind of thing. Hopefully, it'll pull Marin and Adrienne closer."

"Oh." Adrien paused. "Oh, right. Unfortunately, I think they have to be into it as much as we are.” He spoke up again. “Is this your idea or Marin's?"

"Marin's plan to go to Nice, and to get Adrienne on board with the marriage," Marinette told him. "But I want to try and get Marin to be happier with his future wife too."

"Oh, okay. Okay..." There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line as Adrien considered all of the possibilities and roadblocks to the plan. "Well, I’m on board with it. What about your folks?”  
“I think I can make them come around.”  
“The thing is, it doesn't matter what your folks think. My dad's never going to agree to this plan...unless..."

"Unless?"

"Unless we make him agree."

She sighed softly. "I know. But we can find a way to make him agree. We just have to find a good enough reason to go. Something that'll convince even him."

"No, I've got a better idea. You know that interview we have to do tomorrow night for Nadja Chamack?"

"Yeah. What does it have to do with us leaving?"

"I'll explain later when we get there. Can you get your parents on board? They're probably going to be okay with it, at least more okay than my dad."

"I'm sure that I can. I'll discuss it with them at breakfast in the morning," Marinette promised. "It shouldn't be too hard to get them to agree."

"Great!" There was a small pause. "I'll see you then. Love you, Princess." Marinette's heart fluttered at his words. She paused, before bringing herself to respond. "Uh-See you tomorrow. Love you too," she said, before hanging up the phone. She had the dorkiest smile on her face as she finally closed her eyes. 

* * *

Marinette walked downstairs to the breakfast table. She found that she was the last to arrive at breakfast, as per usual, but this was later than typically expected. The breakfast table was slightly busier than usual-in addition to the Royal Family, who should be there but Alya Cesaire, one of Marinette's oldest friends currently serving as an intern for the royal press secretary. She was busy speaking to Marin. "The good news is that it's mostly localized to tabloids, but this could be a longstanding issue if not dealt-Marinette!" Alya turned to Marinette, standing up and giving the other girl a hug. She looked up when Alya hugged her, hugging her right back. "Hey. You okay?"

"I'm fine, Alya. I'm more concerned about Marin right now, based off what's being written."

Marinette sauntered over to her place at the breakfast table, sinking into her seat. She absentmindedly picked through various articles from the night before on her phone, as well as one magazine laid out on the table. Marin picked up a magazine, reading it aloud. "Prince Marin cuckolded on his first date; Royal Heir can’t keep a fianceé, can he keep a country?" He gave a small chuckle, and Marinette frowned. _Marin may be laughing at this, but it could become disastrous._ "How long do we have to fix this?" Alya’s brow furrowed. "Till the end of the summer. If we don't figure this out by the time you go back to Princeton, this could have political implications, as well."

Sabine looked up from the pile of magazines, gazing at Alya. "What's our course of action?" She looked around at the others in the room. "Anyone?" When their mother spoke up, Marinette cast a glance over to her brother. "Marin? Do you want to talk with mom and dad about what we were discussing last night?" She suggested, knowing they had to get the all clear now.

Marin cleared his throat. "Marinette and I were thinking about going to Nice for a week, with our fianceés. We drive down there, stop at Aix for the night, light coverage, mostly through our own social media accounts-it'll give us a good story to work with." Marin gave a look to his mother, wordlessly looking for her approval.

Alya pointed at Marin. "I like it, I like it. What do you think, your majesties?" Marin looked at Marinette with bated breath and crossed his fingers.

Marinette nodded, hoping for the best. She looked at her parents expectantly. Tom was the first one to speak. "It’s a calculated risk, doing that. It might work, though. Sabine?" He looked at his wife, and she nodded in response. "I think that'd be a good idea. Only if you make sure that you get just enough coverage to make it look like you're _all_ happy." She gave a pointed look to Marin at that, and Marin rolled his eyes. The media already thought Marinette and Adrien were a match made in heaven. Clearly, Sabine’s comment wasn’t directed at her daughter.

Tom continued. "The only thing I'm worried about is getting Gabriel to agree. He'd never be on board if Sabine or I asked him about it, so what's your plan for this?"

Marinette piped in at that point. "Adrien has a plan for that. We were talking about it last night. We're going to have to trust him," she told the group.

Marin raised an eyebrow. "Marinette, are you sure we can trust an Agreste with this? For all we know, they could be planning to dupe us."

"Marin, they're not stupid. They need this to work out just as much as us." She pointed out. "I promise that it'll work out."

Marin sighed, pursing his lips together. "Okay, well-it's on you if we mess up with this." He stopped. The entire family, Alya in tow, gave him a sharp glare. "Sorry, it's just-I’m not completely on board with hinging our plan on Adrienne Agreste's brother." He continued:  "But I trust you, and if you trust him...so be it."

Marinette walked over to Marin, placing her hands on his shoulders, giving them a light squeeze. She knew that she had to show the utmost faith in her fiance if she wanted her family to trust them. "You'll see. It'll be fine," Marinette assured him, looking up from his shoulders to smile at her family and Alya before sitting down and raising her cup of coffee to her lips.


	4. Agreste Family Values

Adrien walked up to Marinette in the brightly-lit studio, having finished with his makeup. She was still finishing up with hers. "Hey. What did your folks say?"

Marinette looked up when he came over to her, nodding at him with that same familiar smile on her face. "They're on board. Now it's all about getting your father to agree," she told him. "How exactly are we doing that?"

"He already agreed. At least, that's what Nadja and thirty million people are going to hear on the air." Adrien smirked. "It'll force his hand, and even he's going to respect that." Marinette’s face brightened up into a grin. "Oh. Oh. You know how angry he'll be, right? But if it'll work, and it's something we can handle, then-" She shrugged, setting her makeup and finishing up. An intern walked up to the two of them. "Your Highnesses? We're on the air in 5 minutes." Marinette nodded at the intern, before looking back to Adrien. His eyes were full of stars. "You look beautiful."

She smiled as he lowered himself to sit down next to her. "Thanks, kitten. You aren't looking so bad either."

"Awww."

Nadja Chamack walked onto the studio with tremendous applause from the studio audience and gave a short introduction, before nodding at the box for the cue to have the camera pan on the two couples. There was another round of applause. Adrien had his hand on Marinette's, giving her a slight wink before looking back at the anchor with a winning smile. "Nadja, before we start, I just want to say that it's so nice to finally be here. Occitania has given such a warm welcome towards the French royal family, and we're all grateful for that." 

Marinette smiled at Adrien, before turning to Nadja. They looked like the happiest couple if there ever was one-certainly happier than their siblings. "We're so happy to finally have you here," Nadja told him, before gritting her teeth and moving onto her first question. “So, before we get to the fun parts, I do have to ask about the little scandal between His Highness Prince Marin and Luka Couffaine that occurred last night and is still unfolding over the course of the weekend. Is there a little bit of a love triangle? I think we all could use a little light on the subject.”

Marinette looked to Adrien to gauge his reaction; he nodded to her, letting her take that question. "Princess Adrienne and Prince Marin's relationship is still starting. Also, Adrienne and Luka are in a committed relationship and have been for some time. I’m sure that all three of them are working things out. There's not much else to say on it unless Adrien has anything to add," she said, her winning smile remaining in place.

Adrien cleared his throat, before placing his hand on Marinette's. “Uh-yes. I don’t want to speak for my sister or Marin, but I’d just like to chime in that all four of us, we’re all a little on the young side when you’re talking about marriage, and I think that the people at home should be a little conscious of that before they jump to any conclusions.”

Adrien stopped himself for a moment. Had he been in Paris, that answer would have never flown. The appropriate response from a French news anchor would be something along the lines of _You’re young, but you’re a young royal, so keep it to yourself._ Adrienne certainly would have said something different. But where Adrien’s answer would have spawned two more questions in a French interview, Nadja only smiled and turned back to her docket of questions.

Adrien sighed with no small hint of relief. Marinette turned to him and gave a little giggle, placing a hand on his chest as Nadja turned to her next question. “So now that we’ve got that over with, what’s officially on the table for the next few weeks? We all know that the Agreste royal family is planning on staying in Occitania for the next few weeks."

Marinette left a beat of silence as she found the list of everything they'd be doing before answering. "Well, we obviously have a few more interviews lined up while the Agrestes are visiting us. Along with that, we're excited to show them what Occitania has to offer. There's a couple smaller trips and outings in the works, as well as one already confirmed," Marinette told Nadja, hand going to hold Adrien's. She cast a glance to him, the look of love easily resurfacing in her eyes. "The four of us are planning to go to Nice for a few days, which is just going to be so exciting! I think Princess Adrienne will love it there. We’ve already got King Gabriel’s approval, and all four of us are on board," she went on before stopping to let Adrien chime in.

“Yes! We're going to do it after the royal Eid al-Fitr festivities. We're planning on minimal cameras or entourage, just the four of us together." Adrien nodded at the camera looking directly at Adrienne and Luka, who he knew was watching from her hotel room. "I think we could _all_ use the time together. Put the _family_ in royal family. And the _couple_ in royal couple."

Marinette turned to face Nadja again, nodding to what Adrien had said. "We think it'll be a good way to get to know each other better, especially since we won't be seeing much of each other until next summer after the end of this one," she finished off, casting her own smile at the camera. She knew that Gabriel must be going mad right about now, and she'd never admit to anyone that it felt good to annoy the pompous man, even a little.

Nadja only nodded. "And what about you two? You two seem to get along pretty well, almost as if you knew each other before the betrothal?"

“Yes, Adrien and I met while I was studying in Paris," Marinette confirmed. There was no reason to hide it, as the news was relatively public anyways. "He and I became rather good friends there, and he was a big help in modeling some of my designs," she said, chuckling softly at that. When she had male designs, he was a lifesaver there.

"Yes, and..." Adrien looked down at their intertwined hands as he spoke. "We started hanging out outside of me modeling for her, you know, a coffee date here, dinner there, a weekend in Brussels without anyone else there...I mean, what was supposed to happen when you hang out with a girl like Marinette for that long?" Adrien started laughing, and the studio audience began to laugh along with him, Marinette included. "No, but seriously, we were like, 'oh, no, it's gonna be this whole 'Romeo and Juliet' thing, what will happen if our parents find out?' And then the minute she heads off back home, I get called into my father's office, and the privy council tells me about our engagement. So it all worked in the end." Adrien looked back at Marinette. "Didn't it?"

She let out a happy sigh as she looked at him. "Better than I could've imagined. When I was called back here, I didn't know yet who I'd be engaged to. I couldn't have chosen anyone else, though," she said, receiving a chorus of _awwws_ from the audience. She slid her hand into his, interlocking their fingers as she listened to Nadja's next question for the two of them.

"Actually. There's something that I do want to do." Adrien pulled away from Marinette before getting on his knees, reaching into his breast pocket, and pulled out a small square box.

Marinette's face shifted to confusion when he pulled away, and Nadja responded accordingly. This wasn't on the outline she had for the interview, and it took a second to realize what was going on.  "I know it's redundant at this point, but I'd feel kind of creeped out if I didn't ask you for confirmation." At this point, Nadja just leaned back smugly-this wasn't the first time this had happened. Adrien opened the box to reveal a ring. "Marry me."

When she saw the box, her face lit up even more. And then there were tears in her eyes. She nodded immediately, holding her hand out for the ring. She didn’t even let Adrien finish his question. "Adrien! Holy shit! Yes! Of course I will," she exclaimed, briefly forgetting the cameras and the audience. "I'm so happy that I'll get to call you my husband someday." She pulled him into an embrace once the ring was on her finger. Adrien leaned in and pressed a kiss to his fianceé. Marinette returned the kiss with glee, but only let it linger for a second before moving away.

One one hand, it was the best show ever for the crowds, and they ate it up. But on another hand, both Adrien and Marinette paid attention to their surroundings with half the attention they usually did, numb to everything but each other. The rest of the interview went off without a hitch, the pair charming everyone without even realizing it.

Adrien wasn't even aware of sounds apart from Nadja's questions and Marinette's own answers until the car door closed shut on him after the interview was finished.

Marinette, too, fell back into her senses once they were in the car driving away from the studio, but she only recognized Adrien’s voice saying something with a small hint of concern to it. She turned to Adrien when he spoke, shaking her head with a tiny bit of hesitation when she didn’t hear him the first time. “Sorry?”

“The proposal. Was it too much?” _Oh. That’s what this is about._

"It was a surprise, for sure. But it was perfect, Adrien," she assured, giving him a soft beam.

"Yeah, no, I, uh...I always wanted to do that." Adrien looked at the ring in her finger, raising her hand to kiss it, enjoying the scent of Occitan Lavender that she had applied to it. "You know, uh...the center stone was from my mother's engagement ring." He chuckled. "No pressure.”

Marinette chuckled softly as he pressed the kiss to her hand. But it eventually fell short as she listened to his words. "Well I hope I'll live up to the standards she'd want for a daughter-in-law," she responded, looking to the ring. It warmed her heart to know he loved her enough to trust her with such a precious item. "Thank you for this, kitten."

"No problem, my lady." They pulled up to the hotel, and who was waiting on the steps but King Gabriel, an amused yet stern look on his face. His Private Secretary, Nathalie Sancoeur, stood next to him, her hands clutching an iPad expectantly.

Adrien turned back to Marinette with a strained smile on his face. "Looks like I'm in the dog house. Tell Marin I loved him like a brother, all right?"

Marinette saw Gabriel and was quick to hide her concern for whatever trouble Adrien would be in. "I'll pass on the message. Good luck. I'll see you soon, alright?" She told him, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. She could trust that he'd handle himself.

Adrien got out of the car walked up to his father with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "Your majesty." Gabriel looked nonplussed as he studied his son's face. "Congratulations on your engagement."

"Thank you, father."

"I'm serious. The proposal was a nice touch, and it wasn't even the most surprising thing that happened tonight." Adrien bowed his head down, gritting his teeth. "Adrien. Walk with me." Gabriel walked inside the hotel, beckoning for his son to follow. “Father?” Gabriel waited until all three of them were inside the soundproof elevator and the gentle bong of the elevator confirmed that they were moving. “First of all, Adrien, I want you to know that I’m not particularly as upset at you as you might believe.” This caused Adrien's heart to raise a little bit. “Seriously?”

“Well, considering you truly did force my hand, I suppose I have no other choice but to grin and bear it.” Adrien sighed. “So are you or aren’t you going to let us go?”

“I don’t mind if you go. Fills out our schedule, anyways-we want you two with your intendeds as much as possible.” Gabriel turned his body to face Adrien. “It reminded me of your mother-calculating but compassionate. I probably shouldn’t say it, but I’m actually a little proud of you.” Just when Adrien was about to relax, the ghost of a smirk began to form on Gabriel’s face. “Besides, _I’m_ not the one who’s angry at you.”

“There’s somebody who’s angry at me?”

They heard that same bong again. The elevator stopped, and the door opened. Gabriel moved aside a little bit to reveal a fuming Adrienne Agreste. She was glaring up at him with a hard look in her eyes, and her hands were balled into fists, her nails digging into her palm.

Gabriel walked out from the elevator into the hall first, all too anxious to avoid the coming storm. “Have fun, Adrien.” He left Adrien in the lobby of their floor, Nathalie anxiously following him on his heels.

Adrien was the first to speak, letting his jaw hang out for a little bit before letting any sound come out of his mouth. “I, uh...I can explain.”

“You’d _better_.”

“I, um-”

“‘Cause I know exactly what you’re doing, Adrien. You really think you’d get away with this?

“I mean, it’s not like you have to...” Adrien let his voice die with a whimper.  “‘I don’t have to?’ Is that what you’re going to say?” She laughed. "Yes, I _do_ ! Maybe you don't have to, but I have to hold myself to something everyone else _thinks_ I said! I have to go along with all this! Maybe you don't, but you also don't have to become Queen and hold France and now _Occitania's_ future on your shoulders! You should have _talked_ to me before pulling something like this!"

"And what's your issue with it?" Adrien cocked his head. "’Oh no, look at me, I get to go to the beach for a week! Whatever am I going to do?’" He shrugged. "It's not like you were going to say yes if we _did_ talk about it beforehand." He stopped. "What’s your damage, anyway? Is it just the going-behind-your-back thing, or is it Marin-related?" Adrien walked up to Adrienne, placing a hand on her arm, replacing his harshness with an equal amount of softness. "You can trust me."

Adrienne had opened her mouth to snap back at Adrien, but his arm-and his words-found an inner calm within her. "I do trust you, Adrien. I always trust you, you're my brother. But a whole week with Marin isn't going to be a blast. You of all people know he isn't exactly ideal company. And I know you and Marinette will have a good time, but I don't see the use of me coming. It's irritating."

"My plan is great. It's fantastic. And Marin was pretty reluctant of the plan as well, if that's any consolation." Adrien looked behind her, looking for a certain mop of blue-accented hair. "How did Luka take it? Assuming you two watched the interview together."

"Luka took it fine, he knows I didn't have a part in it. He's understanding like that." Adrien crossed his arms. “So that’s what you see in him?”

“Yeah! Yeah, I guess. You got a problem with that?”

Adrien tilted his head back, his face looking confused. "What? N-no.” Adrien could cut through the silence with a butter knife. “So, we good?"

She sighed but nodded. "Yeah...we're good. Mostly. I'm still a little mad you didn't ask first, but it's too late now," she said. "Seriously though, ask me next time."

“C’mon, let’s go.” Adrien started to walk his sister back to her room. "And promise you won't ignore Marin the same time?” She rolled her eyes at his query. "Fine, I promise I won't ignore him...most of the time at least."  

“To be honest, I think he might be a little scared of you."

She was genuinely surprised at that, unable to hold in the giggles that left her. "Scared of me? He doesn't seem scared of me.” Adrien grinned as they reached her room. "Let's just say not all guys are like me. Or like Luka, for that matter."

“I guess that’s a good thing, to say the least." As if on cue, Luka opened the door to her room, wearing his usual t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. True to what Adrienne said, he didn’t seem all that angry about the night’s developments. Adrien didn't know if Luka was genuinely okay with it, or was just too tired to care. He gave a tired yawn as he leaned against the door frame. "Hey, Adrien. You see the news?"

“Yeah. I guess I’ll, uh, leave you to it.” The door closed behind Adrienne, and she faced her boyfriend, her back pressed against the wall. “Before we have our big argument-let me take a shower. Twenty minutes.” Luka shrugged and moved aside to sit down on the couch. Adrienne dove into the bathroom, taking off her heels and grabbing the pack of makeup remover on the way in. Luka leaned on his elbow as he watched the channel switch to another segment. The water ran, and then shut off almost as soon.

A towel-clad Adrienne walked out of the shower expecting a meltdown. She didn’t even get a thaw.

"So, uh. Are we gonna talk about this, or..." Luka turned to her, taking a sip of wine. She glared at him as she held the towel between her and his gaze. “Can I get some privacy? Hello?”

“It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before!”

“And I don’t want you to see me naked now!” Luka shrugged and turned back to the TV. “Sorry. I know this and everything else...”

“No, you’re fine.” She put on a pair of matching sweatpants, followed by one of Luka’s t-shirts before giving a most unladylike groan as she dramatically draped herself on top of the couch, opposite Luka. “So...” She looked back up at him. “Oh, right. Fuck.” She restrained herself, took a sip of wine and picked up the bowl of popcorn, placing a single dainty piece in her mouth. "So?"

"Listen, babe, I'm so sorry about the trip to Nice. I really didn't know anything about it. Adrien sort of just dropped the news for the first time over TV."

He looked up from his wine glass and gave her a relaxed smile. “It’s fine. We don’t need to talk about it.” She scooted closer to him. “You know I’d _never_ go to Nice, not without letting you kno-.” She was cut off by Luka's finger in her mouth.

"Hey. It’s okay. No worries, get over here." Luka shrugged and motioned for her to come closer. Adrienne complied, cuddling up close to him with her head on his chest. Luka leaned in and kissed Adrienne. "I can tell you’re stressed about this whole marriage thing, and I bet you think I’m gonna break up with you over it. But I love you, you know that? And that’s never gonna change." Typical Luka to defuse any argument or fight they might have had. Adrien was right; it really was one of the things she loved about him.

She kissed him back without a second thought, looking lovingly at him. "I love you too, Luka. Thank you for being so understanding," she responded softly, a gentle hand on his arm. “We should still talk about it, though. You, me, _and_ Marin. Come to some sort of understanding.”

“What understanding do we need to come to, exactly? You and I are dating, Marin’s still single, you two getting married really doesn’t change anything. Alright?” Adrienne nodded. It was a little unfair to Marin, but that was a non-issue. “Yeah, a-alright.” She shook her head; something still wasn’t right. “No, it’s just-Luka. I’ll have to sleep with him sooner or later. We’ll even have a kid together, what then?”

“Then you’ll have his kid, and I’ll just have to deal with it.” Luka shrugged. “Listen, I’m dating royalty. I should have expected this, and I kind of did. So there’s no need to talk about it. If we really need to, I know that’s four years away at least. Let’s just get to that bridge when we cross it.”  Adrienne groaned. Luka told her everything she wanted to hear-he was almost too good at it.

"So tell me when you have to leave again?" Anxious to change the subject, Luka switched from the news to the suite’s Netflix service as he pulled his girlfriend in close.

"After the royal Eid al-Fitr festivities, if I remember Adrien saying on the news right." She cuddled up to his side on the couch, watching the TV as he scrolled through the options. Luka nodded. "Kay. So I can go back to Paris tomorrow, right? Or do you still want me here?"

She thought for a moment and hummed, looking over at him "Only if you want. There's no use in keeping you here while I'm not around. Especially if you don't want to be here."

"Alright. Promise Marin won't steal you away from me while I'm gone?" Luka kissed her cheek again, curling an arm around her stomach. 

She giggled and nodded "I promise, that isn't even a possibility." 

"He's way too short for you, to start." 

"You're not wrong. He’s a total ass, on top of that,” She assured. She decided to not mention that his height hadn't fazed her; she was taller then plenty of guys, so she didn't find it that too odd. It just so happened that her father, brother, and boyfriend were all taller than her. But one thing was for certain; she couldn't even start to imagine falling for someone like Marin. “He always seems so smug, you know?"

Luka snorted and looked down at his girlfriend. "Yeah, whatevs. Hey, are you too tired for Netflix? I just want to sleep."

She sighed dreamily and nodded. "Sleep sounds great, Netflix can wait till some other time," she said, getting up and walking over to the side of the bed. “C’mon, sleep with me.”

"Yes, your highness." Luka approached her from behind, kissing the back of her neck. "Unless you have enough energy for me? I'm not even going to see you in three months, let alone...you know."

She bit her lip and turned around to look up at him with a soft hum. "I suppose I have some energy to spare.” She draped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss of her own. “Especially for something that I know will be worth it."

“That’s what I like to hear.” Luka reached down and gave Adrienne a light smack on her butt. She gave a small yelp at the spank and fell onto the bed, scooting backwards to give him more room. She looked up to face Luka as he undid his pants with a grain on her face from ear to ear. _I definitely have enough energy for this._


	5. Eid Mubarak!

Marin lifted his head from the table and began to applause with the rest of the room as the Imam finished the Eid Takbir. The Imam sat down and was replaced at the podium by Marin's father. King Thomas grinned as he looked over the crowd. "Given that I've already recorded the Royal Eid message a few hours ago, and that the last thing you all want after a month of fasting is for someone to give another speech, let me simply all wish you a final Eid Mubarak and a request to tuck in!"

Marin, along with the audience, gave a small roll of laughter-but what Marin was most amused by was Gabriel sitting a few chairs to Thomas's right. Marin pointed it out to his sister. "Look. I'm sure Prime Minister Bourgeois is gonna _love_ that."

Marinette didn't respond. She had laughed along with the rest of them, though compared to the others her laugh was a bit half-hearted. She had heard about Adrienne's reaction to the news, and couldn’t help but feel back about it. Marinette knew she had a part in the idea of going to Nice, but that didn't make her any happier-it also meant that she had had a part in making Adrienne upset. To be honest, she had hoped for a better reaction, but she'd have to accept the one that they got. "Hey, everything okay?" She felt Marin’s hand on her shoulder and instantly felt a little reassured.

She looked over to Marin with a nod. "I'm fine. Just worrying about the trip. From what Adrien told me Adrienne sounded mad, but I suppose I should have expected that." Marinette explained with a sigh, looking a bit worried still but happy she had told him.

"Of course she's gonna be mad. I'm not too bothered by it."

"I didn't _think_ I'd be bothered by it, but here we are." Marin shrugged in supposed indifference. "Adrien didn't tell her it was my idea, right?"

“Oh god no, she would have had a temper tantrum if she knew you planned it,” Marinette assured, shaking her head. “She still thinks it was mostly Adrien's idea."

"Good. Adrienne would at least be able to take it if it was Adrien's idea."

Marinette gave a pleasant hum. "I don't think anyone could stay mad at Adrien for long." Marin looked to the other side of the podium to see Adrienne, halfheartedly poking at her plate of couscous; her placement far away from Marin did  _not_ help matters. Marin turned back to Marinette. "What about Luka? I noticed he left this morning."

"Well, I don't know the full story on that part," she commented, glancing to Adrienne as Marin did, thankful she was far from them so they could talk. “But Adrien did tell me she said that Luka was quote-unquote 'understanding' and knows it wasn't her idea. She seemed sure about that much if Adrien read her right."

Marin shook his head. "Ugh. I feel bad about doing this to Luka. He seems like a good guy." He looked at Marinette's glowering face. "Oh, yeah, not if you count that. Sorry."

"It's fine, you aren't wrong. Luka _is_ a good guy," Marinette said with a frown. She wasn't going to say he was a bad guy; he was a great boyfriend while it lasted, and didn’t really deserve all the bad talk on him within Occitan circles-especially given the fact he was Occitan himself. "You certainly have your work cut out trying to get Adrienne to turn from him to you. You're great and all Marin, but I'm sure you realize this is probably going to be difficult.”

"I know, I know..." Marin looked out into the crowd for a second, to regain his bearings. _You’re great and all, Marin..._ now, where else had he heard _that_ before? "...He's so much better than I am, and he's someone who actually deserves her. Come to think of it, she has every right to be mad. We're basically splitting her up from someone who's actually man enough to handle her and pairing her up with...you know. Someone who isn't." Marin looked down at his own plate, studying his own couscous with his fork. "I mean, not that I like her or anything, but it still hurts."

Marinette frowned and lightly smacked her brother's shoulder. She had always hated it when he talked lowly about himself, not that it stopped him from doing it quite frequently. "Marin, you shouldn't think that! You're a great guy, she'd be lucky if you liked her!”

“How do _you_ know?”

“I should know! I'm your sister, and while splitting her up from him isn't right it'll make everything easier in the long run."

"No, but I mean-you said it yourself! It's gonna be tough getting me together with her, especially seeing her type is basically my polar opposite." Marin sighed. _No use executing the plan if I'm just going to psych myself out about it_ , he thought.

She sighed again. Marinette wasn't wrong. _Luka and Marin have some things in common, but they’re quite different. Maybe Adrienne has an extended taste?_ She couldn't be sure.

Marin turned to Marinette in an attempt to change the subject. "Are you packed? We leave pretty early tomorrow."

"Mostly packed. I'm going to pack the rest up tonight, but knowing me, I'm probably going to forget something anyway. How about you?"

Marin took another sip of his mint tea. "Yeah, I'm pretty much packed. Given that we've got a washing machine at the summer place, we can just..." He shrugged. "Pack lighter, I guess. And it's a one-hour flight if we forget anything major."

"That's true. Hopefully, I don't leave something important behind." Marinette said hopefully, nodding to him. He put his hand on Marinette's shoulder and leaned in. "Do you mind talking things over with Adrienne before she gets to the Hotel? Just to get her temperature."

"Sure Marin, I'll do my best."

"Thanks. You're the best." Marin pulled her in and hugged her. "Happy Eid, Mari."

Marinette hugged him back with a broad smile on her face. "Anytime Marin, Happy Eid."

* * *

Adrienne was walking the hallway on her way out to the car when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Adrienne! Can we walk and talk?" Adrienne's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before she realized who it was. _Marinette._ She nodded, instantly calming down. "Of course! Is there something you need?"

Marinette gave a small smile. "Just wondering if you're all packed for the drive tomorrow. We're leaving at around nine-ish, but if you're not packed already you can pack light, so don't worry."

"I am! I may actually have overpacked, but I think I'm ready," Adrienne replied. "Thank you for checking, it's nice of you."

Marinette nervously fiddled with the ring that Adrien gave her, wondering in her head what Queen Emilie must be thinking of all this. "Adrien told me about what happened. You've had a week to think about it, so are you on board with the trip now?"

"Well...I'm still not the happiest with it. I hope to have fun while we're all there. Adrien seems excited about it, so I'd hate for one of my bad moods to ruin it."

Marinette gave a happy little chirp at Adrienne's response. "Yeah! And we can have some fun together, just the two of us.”

Adrienne's smile became more relaxed and amused at her reaction. "I hope so, that would be nice."

Marinette gave a small giggle. “Speaking of Nice-it's actually really fun, have you been there before?" She shook her head. "No, not that I remember. What's it like?"

"It's so fun! It's like...Ibiza, but classier? Yeah, let's call it that. There are a lot more museums and stuff, so it's not completely a party scene. Not to say we skimp out on that-we Occitans know how to party!" Marinette giggled a little bit as they waited for the car to pull up.

“Sounds fun.”

“And oh my god, the drive over is-it’s beautiful.”

“Can’t be more scenic than anything we have back up north.”

“You’d be surprised.” They walked down the hall for a few painful seconds in silence. "Something's on your mind, Adri. What's up?" Adrienne really had enough of this mind-reading from Luka, but hearing it from Marinette brought her some peace of mind. She shook herself back to life to answer Marinette’s question. "No, sorry,” she said apologetically, with a grin to hold Marinette back to ease. “I'll hold you to that, you have me looking forward to it."

“Adrienne. What did my brother do this time?” Marinette must be one of those people naturally good at reading people. _Just like Luka_. "No, it’s not Marin. I...suppose I do have a few things on my mind. Is this trip really  to get to know each other better and all?”

Marinette let her smile fade as she nodded. "Yes, Adrienne. This really is to know each other better. Marin and I have been told since we could walk that you and your entire country isn't to be trusted, and you've probably been told the same thing." Marinette put her hand on Adrienne's. "I just wanna be able to judge you for you, not for what people say you might be. Do you understand?"

Adrienne had to admit to herself that she was impressed by Marinette's honesty. She nodded in concurrence, glancing down at her hand and back up to Marinette. "I understand. Thank you, Marinette. I hope to learn more about you over this trip, you seem much different from what I've been told.” Marinette gritted her teeth. "I don't suppose I want to know what they've told you about me?"

"It wouldn't do either of us any good for me to tell you, but if it means anything, it's probably no more than what you've heard about us," Adrienne assured. She knew it wasn't the most comforting thing to say, especially considering Marinette had just told her that she and Marin had been raised to not trust them, but it's the best she could think of.

"Alright." Marinette squeezed Adrienne's hand. "Let me know if my brother's bothering you at all, and you do the same for me, mmkay?"

"Of course." The car pulled up in front of them, and Gabriel opened the door for Adrienne with a tense smile. "I think we're going to get along just fine." Adrienne nodded in agreement, squeezing Marinette’s hand right back. "I believe so too, Marinette. I’ll see you later." She removed her hand from Marinette's, waving and slipping into the car with a polite nod to her father.

Adrien followed his sister inside the car, giving Marinette a kiss on the way in. "It's gonna be okay. Okay?"

"Okay," Marinette echoed with a nod.

Adrien entered the car and closed the door behind him. Gabriel punctuated the short silence that followed with a cough. "Now, contrary to what we may think, people will pay attention to this trip. They won't be probing, but they will be looking at the tabloid shelves a month from now with baited breath.” Adrienne nodded. Gabriel continued. “That being said, what's our plan?"

"We're going to try and kick up as little dust as we can, not make any scenes, and try to enjoy a peaceful trip. If we can avoid the negativity that's been following us since we got here, we should be able to placate the public.

"And what about press coverage?"

"I'd assume we'd be rather neutral. We aren't going to arrange any press conferences or anything of the sort, but we're not going to buy out any paparazzi who takes a photo of us either."

"Good. We're working under the assumption that's what the Dupains want as well, unless you think they have a different idea." Adrien's eyes nervously began to widen, something Gabriel didn't catch on to even when he turned to face his son. "Adrien. Do you think they have an ulterior agenda?" Adrien simply gave a low whistle. "Nope."

"What about you, Adrienne? Does something not feel right to you?"

Adrienne thought for only a second before answering as she glanced to Adrien at his odd reaction.

"Before my talk with Marinette something seemed off, but she seemed to be telling the truth. While I don't know her that well, I think they really do have the same plans as us," she replied.

"What didn't seem right to you? Before your talk with Marinette?" Adrien leaned back in his seat. "You know I trust her."

"I know, Adrien, but I found it odd you or Marinette didn't think to come to me first. I've already told you about how I felt on that, and at the time it made me feel like you may be planning something," she explained. "But now I'm not so worried. Marinette helped me think the trip over."

Adrien gave an uneasy smile and looked to Gabriel for confirmation. Gabriel only gave a shrug. "Well, I think we can trust her if you think you can. What about Marin, what's his place in all this? He and you are the ones who stand to benefit the most from this trip, after all." Adrien dug his nails into his palms.

"I haven't spoken with Marin about this. From what I know he didn't help plan this but I'm not sure," Adrienne admitted, studying her hands with a small amount of guilt. She knew she probably should have at least tried to find out Marin’s opinions on the trip, but she had been turning herself away from the thought.

"Alright. I assume Marin knows about it now, and he'd be enthusiastic about it-at least, more than you were when you first found out." The car pulled up to the hotel. "And you're all packed, I assume?"

She nodded in agreement, even though she didn't know. Marin was supposedly excited, but she would find out exactly how happy he was about the trip later. "Yes, Father. I believe I have everything I need."

"Yeah, me too." Adrien opened the door and got out. Adrienne turned to follow but felt Gabriel's cold hand on her own. Adrienne's head spun around to look at her Father. "Remember, Adrienne. You'll be Queen one day. All eyes are on you. Even your mother's."

Adrienne blinked her surprise away and nodded. "I will Father. Don't worry," she assured. Her inner thoughts had a different story. Adrienne had a hard time not thinking about becoming Queen one day. The stress could be overwhelming at times, but she hoped with everything she had she'd do well.

"Good." Gabriel let go of her hand before following her out of the car. Adrienne quickly got out of the car to catch up with her brother, thanking her lucky stars that he waited for her. She joined his side, but didn't say anything as the elevator door closed in front of them.

Adrien ended the silence as soon as they got inside the elevator. "Anything you want to tell me you didn't tell father?"

Adrienne nodded. "Yeah. It's more of a question," she replied, looking over at him with curious eyes. "I hadn't thought much about it before but how did Marin feel about this?"

"Marin?" Adrien didn't know. Well, he did know-it was Marin's idea, after all-but it wasn't like Adrienne was about to know that. "Not as negatively as you. I suppose he was excited to get out of Toulouse. He didn't seem too bothered it was going to be with us."

"Hm.” He turned to Adrienne. "Why, why do you ask?"

“I expected him to be pretty bothered by this..." Especially since he was being forced to go as well. "Did he have any part in planning it?" She asked, looking from him to the lights on the elevator. "I'm just curious, is all. Father had just made me wonder what part Marin played in all this."

 **“** What? No, no! He didn't plan anything! Marinette might have made him book a few rooms, and he'll be driving tomorrow, but-other than that, he doesn't have any part in planning it."

She made a soft humming sound, turning back towards him. "I don't understand how he’s okay with this, especially with me bringing Luka to the gala," she commented with a confused look on her face. "But I guess I can't judge him too much, given how little I know of him.”

Adrien turned to Adrienne. "Does that bother you? You're not jealous of Marinette and me?" The door opened, and Adrien raised an eyebrow as he followed her out. Adrienne smiled and giggled. "Don't worry about that, Adrien. I'm not jealous of you and Marinette. What you two have is good, believe me, but...” She seemed lost in thought for a second, but the confusion that lingered on her face dissipated, replaced with a look of conviction.

“But what?”

“But I'm happy with Luka," she firmly assured him with a small smile as a puzzled Adrien opened the door to his own room and closed it behind him.


	6. On the Road

“Does he even know how to drive?” Adrienne closed the trunk after pushing in her last suitcase. “Cause I certainly don’t, and we just took our chauffeur everywhere if we weren’t using our public transit-”

“Maybe they had a completely different experience than we did?” Adrien shrugged as he joined Marinette in the back seat of the black Volkswagen Passat. It wasn’t old or beat up by any standard, but it wasn’t what Adrienne was used to, either. “Did they?” Marinette gave a short nod from her seat. “Drivers Ed was a required class for the Occitan Military Cadet program at our boarding school. And because we were both required to do OMC...we both know how to drive.” So that settled one thing for Adrienne.

But there was another thing that wasn’t settled; Adrien was sitting next to Marinette, which meant that Adrienne had to sit next to... _crap_.

To his credit, it didn’t seem like Marin was all that thrilled about it either. He was looking somewhat nervous, actually, tapping his thumbs against the wheel. He didn’t even say a word until they were on the A61, well on their way to Aix. He gave her a sideways glance before clearing his throat. “So, uh...” His voice, usually cocksure and smug, now just lay limp in the air, turning up in pitch towards the end. _It’s a bit odd to see him so nervous_ , Adrienne thought to herself. She shrugged the thought off just as soon as it popped into her head. 

* * *

"Hey, Marin," Adrienne greeted politely, in an attempt to make a conversation for the first time since the gala. "Do you know how long the drive there is gonna be?" She asked curiously, taking care to add a hint of boredom to her voice. She’d never admit it to anyone, but she hoped it would be somewhat on the short side.

Marin cleared his own throat. “Oh, from here to Aix? It's like, four hours. Traffic usually isn't that bad." She held in a groan. _Four hours of sitting and staring out the window?_ Adrienne wasn't looking forward to it.

"You know, if you want to play music, there's an aux cord right up front, I think. You know, because I'm probably boring you right around now." She started searching around for the cord before glancing up at him with a look of rehearsed exasperation. "You aren't boring me, Marin. But music’s probably a good idea, thanks."

Adrien jumped in. "Can I play some music?" He knew Adrienne would likely play you-know-who to get under Marin's skin, and he'd rather subject the entire car to his extensive Vocaloid playlist than to let that happen.

Adrienne frowned and sighed, her playlist of Luka's music would have to wait. “Promise you won’t play any of that weird Japanese stuff?”

Adrien’s eyes widened in mock indignance. "That was years and years ago! You're embarrassing me in front of Marinette." Adrien smirked at Marinette and pulled her in for a kiss as he plugged in his phone.

The high-pitched music began to blast throughout the car, and Marin tried to keep the budding laughter down inside him. He failed horribly, genuinely laughing for the first time in days.

Adrienne wrinkled her nose, a small smile playing onto her lips. "You deserve being embarrassed for this," she teased, really not enjoying the music but her brother’s smile. "I'm sorry, he's genuinely into this?"

"Yeah, it's awful, I was hoping he'd grown out of this type of music, but it seems my brother will _forever_ be a dork." Adrienne continued, shooting Adrien a teasing look from the front seat.

"Ouch. Glad to know I'm not the only one. Isn't that right, Marinette?" He turned to Marinette as far as his eyes would allow. "At least mine grew out of it."

Adrienne shook her head in disbelief as she turned to Marin. "Wait, wait, which one of you was into this? I can't really imagine either of you sitting and listening to this in their free time."

Marin began to giggle. "It, uh...okay, none of us was into this exactly, but both of us had a real dorky side. Our mom's Singaporean, right?" Marin bit his lip. "So we fell in love with Chinese soap operas. Especially those concubine court dramas. Like, we got _really_ into it-it's actually how Marinette got into fashion."

"Ohh, I see." Adrienne looked at the both of them. "Wow, soap operas? I didn't expect that," she admitted. "So what I'm hearing is, there's no escape from the dorks. I'm surrounded." She joked, looking back at Marinette. "But seriously, Marinette, I've seen some of your designs, and they’re pretty solid."

Marinette looked up from her kiss with Adrien in the backseat. "Oh, thanks! I'll be happy to give you my sketchbook later, but I'm-no, stop it, Adrien!-in the middle of something." She giggled and returned to making out with Adrien in the backseat.

Marin turned to Adrienne with a grin on his face. "They're distracted, grab the phone!" Her green eyes lit up, and she reached back, snatching up the phone much to Adrien’s chagrin. "Any song requests?"

“Anything other than this. I might actually drive this thing off the road."

Adrienne nodded with a laugh. "At this point, I'm not against the idea." She scrolled through his library (and there was a lot to scroll through) before putting on one of Jagged Stone's newer albums. Marin froze when he heard the opening chords, but when he realized who it was, he relaxed a little bit. A lot, actually-he was a big Jagged Stone fan, and it wasn't like Luka was  _that_ bad of an artist either. He turned to Adrienne. "Really? Jagged Stone?"

"Only the best," Adrienne replied smugly, Adriens phone didn't have many of Luka's songs-a change from a month ago. Adrienne wasn't sure why, but maybe he purged his phone after he met Marinette and Marin. "Anyone who doesn't like his music is crazy."

"Now THAT we can agree on. Didn't really take you for a rock n' roll kind of girl, how'd you get into it?"

"Luka got me into it. I spent a lot of time in the studio." Adrienne answered lightly, pretending she didn't know there was a chance it would bug Marin.

Marin let the other edge of his mouth-the one facing away from Adrienne-twitch uncomfortably. He pretended to ignore that, along with the smackings and giggling in the back seat. "Yeah, so...that rubbed off on you, I guess?"

"Yep, I used to be more into pop but...rock just stole my heart."

"Oh. Nice." There was another awkward pause. "Yeah, no, it's...it's a pretty good genre, I guess. I don't know, I guess I'm a little more into hip-hop, actually."

Adrienne smiled to herself, humming a bit too as she looked out the window to see maybe the fifteenth vineyard they passed by that morning. "Hip-hop? Yeah, I can see that. Can't say I listen to it that often though, after this next song we can listen to some if you give me a suggestion."

"Yeah, no, I...I actually got my dad into it, too." Marin chuckled. "He told me ‘Racine Carrée’ was part of the reason why he pushed for raising refugee quotas. I guess hip-hop inspires me to do better by people less well off than I am." He turned to Adrienne. "You know?"

Adrienne would never admit she was surprised-and even less likely to admit that she was impressed. Her father very rarely worried about things like that and, while Adrien and Adrienne were slightly more aware, they didn't care about the lowers as much as most would. They were working on it and tried to be kind and help when they could. "I-I, um, yeah.”

"You okay?" Marin raised an eyebrow at her change in voice-a change back to its normal register, which he had never heard before. "Your voice just got, like, super deep."

Adrienne cleared her throat and returned to the high, sugary sweet tone in her voice. "Yeah, I'm fine," She assured him in an attempt to cover up her slip up as she nervously scrolled through a random app on her brother's phone.

"Oh, yeah-" Marin shook his head. "Sure, sorry about that."

“What? No, it’s nothing _you_ have to apologize for.” Marin was silent at that. So was Adrienne, as she turned to look out of the window. 

* * *

Marinette could tell from the silence that the tension was back in full force, breaking out of the kiss with Adrien to lean over to Marin. “Hey, do you want to stop off at Carcassonne, if we haven’t passed by it already?”

“Uh, it’s a little out of the way. We’re already making good time.” They passed by a sign: CARCASSONNE, 5 KM. “Listen, I wanna get there as quick as possible, and I’m sure Adrienne-”

“No, it’s fine!” Adrienne cut in. “Let’s go. This whole trip is your idea, right?” The two Dupains shared a look through the dash mirror. Marinette slowly cut in. “...Yeah, so if you want to go...” Marin groaned. “Sure. Why not? We should probably take a break before we get onto the A9, anyways.”

Marin pulled the car off of the highway, taking it to an imposing-looking castle that loomed over them. The road began to turn from paved highway to cobbled street. “That’s Carcassonne?”

“Yeah.”

“I hope you don’t think we’re tourists."

“You’ve never been here before. We’re giving you a tour. This makes you a tourist.” Marinette shrugged. “Sorry. So, should we split up?” Marin pulled the car into a parking spot as he turned to Marinette with a look of almost-genuine fear, almost smashing the car into the giant stone wall. “According to who? Genders? Pairs? Families?”

Adrienne giggled. “How about guys and girls split up? Gosh, I don’t know if you really hate me or really like me.”

The air chilled by ten degrees, and Adrienne looked around nervously. “I hope it’s the latter! Anyways-Mari. You’re the boss.”

Marinette cleared her throat with a high-pitched hmph. “Oh, okay! Y-yeah, how about we split up by couples? Adrienne, you with Marin and I’ll go with Adrien?” Marin got out of the car as Marinette and Adrien walked away, Marinette talking excitedly about the  _amazing_ bakery inside the castle town with calissons that  _melt_ in your mouth...

”Marin.” Marin turned around. “You wanna give me a tour?”

* * *

“Yeah, and the reason this castle doesn’t look pretty is that it wasn’t designed to be pretty; it was designed for defense. When siege warfare went out of style, everyone except for the British abandoned their castles and just built palaces in the middle of their capital cities.”

Adrienne nodded absentmindedly at Marin’s explanation, looking down at the people standing below at the bottom of the walls before turned to Marin. “Hey, could you...take my picture?”

“Sure, I guess. Where’s your phone?” Adrienne sat on the embrasures of the wall as Marin took a few shots, leaning back to get the full view of the merlons on either side. “What am I, your photographer now?”

“Let’s see.” Adrienne took her phone back from Marin as she inspected her pictures. “You might as well be-the composition is great. Was that just a lucky shot?”

“Not really. I took up photography ever since I went to the States. I guess I’m still an amateur at it.”

“I guess. But you’re a pretty good amateur.”

“T-thanks? I don’t usually work with people, though. Never had a model on hand, I guess.” Adrienne flashed Marin a flirtatious grin. Marin pulled back a little. “What?”

“Well, you do now, you dummy! Unless...”

“What?”

“Marin, do you hate me?”

“What?”

“Stop saying what!” Marin started to chuckle, a cheeky smirk on his face. “What?” She groaned. “I’m serious, here!” The smirk began to clear from Marin’s face. “Okay, what is it?”

“What I asked about in the car, you know-whether you liked or hated me. Do you...you know, hate me?” Marin raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Stop saying-”

“No, I mean, what’re you talking about? Why would I hate you?”

“I don’t know! I’m pretty great, why would you?” Marin looked up. “Adrienne, I don’t know how that popped into your head, but I don’t hate you. Listen, I dislike people, I don’t care for people, but there are, like, two or three people I genuinely hate.”

“And I don’t make that list?”

“What? No!”

“And Luka does?” Marin sighed. “Yeah, you have me there. But it’s got nothing to do with you.” _Right. Yeah. That happened with Marinette._ “So you just dislike me?”

“Not even! I just...tolerate you. I guess there’s some stuff I like about you, but...yeah, no. Not...that.” Adrienne looked down at the people again. “How old is this castle again?”

“I dunno. Eight, nine hundred years?” Adrienne shuddered. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing, it’s just...claustrophobic in there sometimes. You feel so trapped. I don’t know how people could live there. I mean, if you could even call it living.” Marin nodded. “Yeah, I get whatcha mean. Do you want to go back down? I’ll buy you a drink.”

She looked down at him, and smiled-the first time she’d done that, just for him. “Sure. Thanks.” Marin felt something flutter from the bottom of his stomach he hadn’t felt in a long time-and certainly never around her. He scratched the bottom of his stomach nervously, his face having a faraway look on it as he bit down on his lip hard enough to draw blood.

“Hey, you okay?” Marin looked at Adrienne as her words brought him back to reality.

“Yeah, yeah!” Marin stood up, and everything was back to normal once again. “I’m fine. Let’s go-they sell some good Rosé at the bottom.”


	7. Off the Road

Adrienne turned her body to face the scenery outside. It was just as pretty as Marinette had described it-just outside the car window, a row of sunflowers separated what appeared to be miles and miles of lavender fields. “Hey, Adri?” Silence from Adrienne. “Adrienne?” Adrienne turned around to face Marinette. “Sorry, what?”

“Want a Calisson, Adrienne?”

“Sure!” Adrienne popped the small candy into her mouth. She tasted an almond paste primarily in her mouth, but she could also parse out some orange notes that popped on her tongue. “Wow, this is...great! You guys really know your sweets.” She raised the paper cup to her lips, getting her first taste of Rosé. “And your wine. Hey, Marinette?” The shorter girl looked up. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“I’m sorry about what I thought earlier. I’m really having fun on this trip so far. All of it.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it! As long as you’re enjoying yourself.” Adrienne saw a sign pass by her: AIX-EN-PROVENCE, 80 KM. Marin cleared his throat. "Hey, we're almost there. At least, closer than we started."

"Oh! That's only like...an hour right?”

“Even less.”

“Nice.”

“Not so nice is that we’re running out of gas.” Marinette poked her brother on the back of the shoulder. “We’re just passing Arles-should we make another stop?”

“Jeez, Mari, at this rate we’re never gonna get there.”

“Marin, it’s Arles-we have all the time in the world, and it’s so pretty! Pretty enough for Van Gogh...”

“Who was crazy and cut off his own ear, your point being?”

“Okay, we don’t even have to go to the town, we could just see the mental asylum, get some gas, and then-straight shot to Aix. I promise.”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise.”

“Okay then. Pit stop number two, here we go.”

* * *

“You know, for a mental asylum...”

“...it doesn’t look like a mental asylum.” Adrienne looked around. It was...too green to be a mental asylum. Too green, and far too pretty. Marin took his camera out of the car, joining his fianceé. “Yeah, I can see why Van Gogh checked himself in.” Adrienne looked down at his camera, and Marin looked back up. “Yeah, what?”

“Oh, nothing, it’s just...nice.”

“What, the camera? Yeah, it...takes good pictures, I guess. It, uh...really takes those pictures.” She started giggling, and Marin looked up at her in defense. “What? It does!”

Marinette poked Adrien’s side. “Hey, you want to leave these two alone?”

“What, wh-”

“Come on, Adrien, let’s go, the inside’s just as nice!” Marinette dragged Adrien inside. “Hey, where are you taking me?”

"I'm taking you to the courtyard! Van Gogh painted it while he was here and it looked beautiful in his painting, so I'd bet it's even more beautiful in person," Marinette chirped excitedly. "I'm not sure where it is. I know it's in the courtyard, but I don't know what door gets us there."

"So first you and then Marin with the photography..." Adrien cocked his head as he took her hand and let her lead him to the outside. "I guess what it's true what they say about Occitans being artsy."

"What can I say? We love our art, creativity just runs in our blood." Marinette looked at the garden cheerfully, careful to not step on any of the many flowers as she looked around.

"You know, I never even went to an exhibition until Adrienne and I started modeling?" She looked at him in surprise. "Really? Marin and I have been going to them since we were little!"

"Yeah.”

"Oh, wow! Well, I'll make sure as your soon-to-be wife that I’ll bring you to exhibitions more often!" Adrien smiled as he ran his hands over the lavender petals. “Thanks, Marinette.”  
“Of course!”

“That's the actual reason we model. To get out of the palace-it's really our best excuse we have. Dad's caught up in so much royal business that he really can't control us when we say we're doing modeling, so we kind of like it like that."

“So you actually like modeling? I thought you would have thought it would have been more of the same.”

They left the cloister and walked out into the open air, on the other side of the building. “I guess when you put it that way. Being a prince and being a model, all eyes are on you like that. But-” Adrien cut himself off, lost in thought. “But what?”

“But...there’s no judgment when you’re a model. Like, there is, but-you know people are going to love you. If something messes up around you, that’s on your designer or your prep crew. And the stakes are so low. If you mess up at a photo shoot, it follows you around for about five minutes while they get everything set up again. Mess up in court or at a function, and you’ve disgraced your country.” 

Marinette looked up in thought. “Huh. I never thought about it. Does Adrienne think the same way?” Adrien sat down on the bench, and Marinette lay down next to him, placing her head on his lap. “Well...not exactly. She always has to be a Princess, no matter whose shoes she’s in. She’s really her father’s kid. I mean, she was always the heiress, but she didn’t need to be so could about it.” Marinette scoffed. “So she gets along well with your dad?”

“Not exactly. After the crash and the funeral...father became much more introverted. He turned away from everyone, including us. Now, I didn’t really care much about it, but...Adrienne changed a little bit as well. She was always his little golden girl, so when he pulled away from her...” Marinette nodded-she could relate. “Sorry, I’m probably boring y-”

“No, it’s fine-go ahead.”

“Seriously, cause if I’m-”

“-Adrien. Go ahead.”

“Nah, I actually kind of finished. I really didn’t mind it when dad disconnected, and she did. Maybe it rubbed off on her. She hasn’t had a real talk about feelings and stuff for a while.” Adrien shrugged as he picked a lavender stem and held it up to Marinette. "These really grow all over, huh?"

Marinette held the lavender, touching to delicate, small petals. "Yeah. Lavender’s actually been proven to have a relaxing smell, it can help you sleep and all that jazz, I could see why they would want these here."

"You know, Marin actually told me something about lavender boosting estrogen in men-is that true, or is that just Marin being Marin?"

Marinette giggled, nodding as she looked up to Adrien. "Sorta. Maybe. I don't think so, but maybe! It's more likely just Marin being Marin." Marinette leaned down to look at the flowers close. "I'm surprised they don't have more sunflowers! I had this whole line I was going to do about how your hair reminded me of sunflowers and everything."

"Really? Thanks..." Marinette was anxious to change the subject, which Adrien found a little odd. "Is everything all right? You know, with Marin?"

Marinette looked up at him and bit her lip for a second. “Nothing wrong that I know of, I'm just excited!" Marinette apologized before standing up to straddle Adrien’s legs with her own, pressing a kiss to his lips. "Go ahead, I was just rambling. We were talking about Marin's idea of how lavender affects men?"

Adrien wrinkled his nose. "No, he's just...I guess it's a part of that, though. Is there something about Marin that's odd? Like, a feeling that he's constantly scared? I mean, I don't wanna pry."

"What, you think my brother’s weird? Which...not saying he isn’t." Marinette tried to play it off as a joke but only ended up sighing in exasperation. "If only I didn’t know what you meant. Marin’s always been worried about that. He has this idea that him being short or his voice not being super deep makes him less of a man or something. Don't tell him I'm telling you all this, he’d flip."

"Oh, yeah, he definitely would-wait a minute. Is his voice different from what I've heard? I hadn't noticed."

Marinette cringed a bit and nodded. "Yeah. He's gotten good at keeping his deep voice up, but it isn't his normal one. I don't get why he feels the need to change his voice though, it's not _all_ that high."

"Huh. It...explains a lot, actually. I mean, I guess I could see how he's that way." Adrien looked down at Marinette. "You know him better than I do-do _you_ think he's masculine? I don't think he is-at least, if we're talking, like, traditionally. No disrespect to Marin, I still think he's a great guy."

Marinette shook her head in agreement. "No, you’re good. Marin’s always been a different kind of guy. He can cook maybe even better than I can, which is saying something. He never got into sports-he actually did ballet in Collegé and Lyceé. He’s not even in a frat yet. And he probably talks about feelings and stuff _way_ too much.”

“Seriously?” She went on, “I don't understand why it _bothers_ him so much. He really _is_ a great guy and being a little feminine shouldn't make anyone like him less. But I guess I can't speak for everyone," Marinette told him while looking down at the flowers.

"Yeah, I know some people who'd disagree with you on that one. I'm just afraid that Adrienne might be one of them. Hey, but I guess that's what this trip is about, huh?"

Marinette nodded hopefully. "Maybe she won’t turn out to be one of those people, but now I'm not so sure. Considering she's with _Luka_ , she might be. I'm just counting on the hope she might have an extended taste."

“You and me both, babe." Adrien leaned in and pressed a kiss to her nose. "You don't think I'm feminine, do you?"

Marinette giggled, looking up at him with bright eyes. "No, I think you're very manly. Even if you’re on the bamboo-shoot side of skinny,” She teased as she leaned up to peck his lips with a smile on her face. "I'd still like you if you were into makeup and cooking, though."

Adrien placed his hands on her hips, falling into the kiss with a low hum.

Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck to hold him close, her eyes closed as she kissed him.

Adrien pulled away, pushing her off of his lap as he stood back up. "Should we tour the rest of the place and get out of here before they get antsy? I want an excuse to get to the gift shop and buy some lavender soap."

"Yes! I really want to see Van Gogh's room before we go. Remember when we saw the painting of it when we went to the Orsay?”

“Yeah, so?”  
“So...we just _have to_ see it while we're here." Marinette took her arms down from around him and held one of his hands in hers. "I bet there are more sunflowers in there for me to compare you to."


	8. Lavender Fields

The first thing that Adrienne realized as she woke up was that she didn’t remember going to sleep in the first place. She sat up and leaned against the headboard of her bed, looking down at her hands that were resting against the plush comforter. The comforter was white-as were the sheets, her pillows, everything except the walls, which were white, save for a broad brushstroke of lavender, put there accidentally-or then again, maybe not.

She turned to the bedroom table-her phone wasn’t there, still in her pocket. The only change she noticed was that her shoes were removed. She closed her eyes and heard the running of water under the ground and splashing of water in the bathroom-Marin, most likely.

 _Shuk_. The blinding light of the morning flooded the room, blowing apart the shadows. “Adrien!”

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” Adrien smirked as turned from the now-open shutters. “You going to get breakfast? Marinette and I spent the better part of an hour on it.” Adrienne’s eyes narrowed. “You can’t cook.”

“Well-mostly Marinette. You gonna eat?” Adrienne groggily shook her head, pressing her palms into her closed eyes to wipe away the sleep from them. “M’Probably just going to have coffee. I’m not that hungry.”

“Yeah, you will be after our hike this afternoon,” Marinette cheerfully called out from the suite kitchen. “C’mon, Adrien! The croissants are about to rise!”

“Coming!”

“Wait, there are croissants?”

“Not in a few minutes, after the rest of us get to it!” Adrienne huffed her shoulders and sat on the side of the bed, rested, but still so weary. _I feel like death._ She stood up, cracked her back open, popped her neck, and walked into the room.

“Where are we?” Marinette grinned as she slid two oven mitts onto her hands, looking at Adrienne as the other girl went straight for the mugs and the Keurig machine. “We’re at a small place that Marin booked for a few nights.” Adrienne shook her head. “No, I mean-”

“Oh, yeah, welcome to Aix! Duh, sorry about that.” Adrienne stood there as she pressed the _Full Cup_ button on the Keurig, hearing the pleasing hum of the motor and the splash of coffee into her mug. “How did we-sorry, I was asleep.”

Adrienne lifted the cup to her lips as Marinette began to recount the evening. “Oh, yeah, we got here really late, and then Marin had to carry you up to your room, and then we had to unpack-” Adrienne nearly spit out her coffee.

“A-Adri?”

“He did _what_?” Adrien and Marinette shared a look. The oven timer began to ding, and Marinette jumped into action. “Adrien, get the wire rack!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Marinette ran and grabbed the sheet with four freshly cooked, giant, croissants on them, leaving Adrienne standing confused in the middle of the kitchen. “Sorry, Adrienne, could you move out of the kitchen?” Adrienne didn’t budge. “Sorry, he did what?”

Adrien and Marinette carefully slid the croissants from the baking sheet to the wire-rack, before collapsing on the counter.

“That was a close one.” Adrien turned to his sister. “Sorry, sis. Marinette here tells me if you leave the croissants on the baking sheet for too long, it gets soggy and gross.” Adrienne kept standing there. Her coffee remained in her hand, becoming colder than usual.

“He did what?”

“Who did what, Adrienne?”

“Marin! He did what?”

“He did what when, do you mean-” Adrien cut in. “Oh, you mean the carrying you up to your bed part? Oh, nothing happened, he didn’t even sleep in the same bed, right Mari?”

“Yeah. He crashed on the couch.” Marinette tore off a small piece of croissant and offered it to Adrien. He took it with his mouth and grinned, making Adrienne gag a little. “Mmm! That’sh delicioush!”

“Thanks!”

Marinette tore off another piece, offering it to Adrienne. “Try one?” Adrienne stood there, rooted to the spot.

“Did someone say croissants?” Marin walked in, passed Adrienne completely. “Morning, guys!” His hair was still damp from the shower, and he opted for a salmon-colored polo and khaki shorts, a pair of square aviators sitting at the bottom of the V of his shirt. He grinned at Adrienne. “Morning, Honey!”

He snatched a croissant off of the plate, and, taking a big bite out of it, moved for the Keurig. Adrienne narrowed her eyes. “Are you going to eat _all_ of that?” Marin turned and raised an eyebrow. “Uh. Yeah. There are four. One for each?” Adrienne scoffed and shrugged. “Whatever. Black coffee and a croissant can’t do wonders for your digestive tract.” Adrien and Marinette exchanged looks.

Marin quietly walked over to the jar of sugar cubes and carton of cream, slipping five cubes of sugar and a quarter cup of cream into the coffee. “Who said I took it black?”

Adrienne shrugged. “My point still stands.”

“Not all of us have diets of five hundred calories.”

“Ha, ha. So funny, my ulcer just tore open.” Marin looked up to his fianceé with his eyebrows furrowed and his face falling. Adrienne sighed. “It’s a joke. My stomach is fine.” Marin turned back to Marinette. “What’re we doing today?”

“Weeee...are doing a hike!” Marinette grabbed her croissant. “So make sure you’re all prepared, water bottles, sensible shoes...Adrienne, you have those, right?” Adrienne narrowed her eyes. Marin’s face turned into a smile. “Wait.” Adrienne’s look didn’t abate. “Woah, wait. Waaaaait.” He burst out laughing. “Oh my  _god_! Ah, haaaah...you’re going to have to walk in  _six-inch spikes_ , oh my god, I can’t-” He sat on the floor, putting his head in his hands. “I can’t breathe, I can’t _breathe-_ ”

“It’s not really _that_ funny, Marin.”

“It is to me!”

Adrienne put down her cup of coffee on the breakfast nook, stood up, and walked out of the room into her own bedroom.

Marin’s laughter slowed down, coming to a point where it subsided completely. “Wait, stop! It’s just a joke!” Marin crossed his arms and leaned against the breakfast nook, his shoulders slumping.

Marinette sat down next to Marin. She nudged him lightly and leaned into his ear, whispering in Occitan. “Hey, what was that?” Marin looked up at her and responded back in Occitan. “Just trying to lighten the mood...”

“More like trying to lighten your coffee. Jeez, you know you take it black as well, right?”

“Yeah, course I know. Figured I’d need the extra boost today.” Marin took a small sip of his coffee, wincing at the sweetness. “Marin. _Are_ you okay?”

“I just don-” Marin looked up to Adrien, who made a show of sipping his coffee and ignoring the conversation. Marin continued to speak in Occitan-just to be safe. “I made a lot of progress with her yesterday, and I feel like we’re back at square one.”

“Maybe if you didn’t make fun of her-”

“How was I supposed to know she was so touchy?” Marin let the question hang on air before Marinette put her hand on his own. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. We have a plan.” Marin raised an eyebrow, switching back to French in surprise. “What plan?”

Adrien raised an eyebrow at Marinette; Marinette nodded her head at him before continuing to her brother back in French-albeit much softer this time. “Adrien and I came up with a plan for the hike today. It’s gonna push you a little outside your comfort zone.”

“What’s the plan?”

“Do you trust me?”

“I don-”

“ _Do_ you trust me?”

“Yeah!”

“Great.” There was another pause. “So what’s the plan?”

“Well, the plan is-” Marinette didn’t get to finish her sentence. Adrienne walked out and dropped a pair of white sneakers with purple midsoles in front of Marin with a grin, sitting back down at the table and sipping her coffee to the silence of the room.

* * *

“Honestly, it’s fine, I don’t mind!” Adrienne shrugged. “To be fair, the mental image _is_ a little funny!”

“Whatever.”

“And anyway, the best revenge is seeing that look on your face.”

From the passenger seat, Adrien could feel the heat from Marin’s cheeks as Adrienne continued to cackle from the backseat. Marin parked the car at the trailhead that looped around the lazy Provençal scenery before turning back to the head.

Marin could still see the outskirts of Aix on the other side of a large field of Lavender and wondered to himself if he couldn’t just stop the car and break into a run across the field. He turned the car off and put his shades on before stepping out of the car. “Adrien?” Adrien looked up from the steering wheel to Marin. “Hey! What, uh-what’s up?”

“You coming?”

“Yeah, uh...just give me a second.” Adrienne got out of the car, walking up to Marin. “I might just need to check the glove compartment for something. It might take a while. Can you leave the keys with me?”

“Yeah, suit yourself.” Marin handed the keys to Adrien, not noticing the other man’s smirk. Marin shrugged as Adrienne walked next to him. “So...are we good?”

“Yeah?” Adrien looked behind him to Marinette and nodded. “Now.” Marinette slowly got out of the car, now that Marin was distracted. Adrien slowly slid her the car keys. “When?” Marinette’s heart thudded in her chest she slammed the door shut.

Marin finally turned around. “When?”

“‘Nette, what’re you doing-”

“Now! Now!” Marinette turned the car engine on and set it to reverse. Adrien hit the general lock button.

“Hey! _Hey_ !” Marin began to run after the car, but it was too late-Marinette slammed the car into drive and began speeding off towards the highway. “No...” Marin leaned his head back and let out a small groan. _This was your plan?_ “Well, this sucks, how’re you holding out-” Marin turned around to see Adrienne’s face. “Oh. Not well.”

* * *

“Marinette. This is Marin, again. Call me back, _right now._ This isn’t funny.” Marin ended the voicemail, before walking to Adrienne, who was sitting at the trailhead with her head in her arms. “A-Adrienne?” Marin sat down next to Adrienne. “Uh.” _This is all my fault._ “I’m sorry.”

He hadn’t meant to say that-even though this wasn’t his idea, he could still open a line of thinking he’d rather not have opened.

“Don’t be. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry?” Marin looked up at Adrienne’s face. It was bright red and twisted in fury.

“I’m sorry for my idiot brother, and my idiot soon-to-be sister-in-law, and their  _sick_ joke at trying to get us together, _‘cause it’s not going to work_! Ever!” Marin groaned. She’d figured out the motive, at least.

Adrienne had stood up at this point, yelling in the direction where the car had driven off like a petulant child. “God, as if! You hear that, Adrien? You’re not father! I’m done with that! You don’t get to mess with my political life, and you  _certainly_ don’t get to mess with my love life! Do you think I'm so desperate that I'd let you set me up with this guy? This-this pissy little short stack, who couldn't be _half_ the boyfriend Luka is, even if he tried? Ugh!”

Marin looked up to see clouds gathering above the path they would have been walking down-heavy clouds, thick and pregnant with water. Adrienne kicked the ground with a muffled scream, getting dirt all over her shoes. " _Fuck you_!"

Marin stood up and began to back away. He realized he stood right between the trailhead and the road, placing him right in the line of fire of Adrienne’s rant. “A-are you done?” It was at this point he realized he hadn’t dropped his voice yet. “I just...”

Adrienne realized who she was screaming at. She covered her mouth with her hand. “I...I’m so sorry! That wasn’t at you! I promise.”

“Seemed like it was.” Marin lowered his head, taking a sudden interest in his shoes as his throat went dry. He suddenly wanted to be anywhere else. “Listen, there’s a bus stop at the other end of that Lavender field over there. It’s about a kilometer walk from here-not that bad at all. The half-hour bus ride will take us right where we need to be.” Marin began to walk towards the field, but it wasn’t long before Adrienne grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “Marin. I’m really sorry.”

Marin pulled his arm away, his face a mix of anger and frustration with no small amount of resignation. “Why do you care?”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you like that.” Marin smirked. “Oh, so you’re afraid of hurting me, now? So what was that stunt at the gala?” 

Her face fell even more. “I don’t-not...”

"It's fine." 

"No! It's not! I just-" She drifted off a little, before finding her voice again, extending her hand to Marin once again as she looked down at him. “Listen. We’re going to have to see a lot of each other. So, like it or not, we’re going to need to  _not_ hate each other. Now, do you want to take a walk with me?”

* * *

“Hey, Marin? I just wanted to say I’m sorry for-” Adrienne was cut off by Marin's mirthless chuckle as they passed the tenth row of lavenders. “This is, like, the third time you’ve apologized. It’s really all right at this point.” Adrienne huffed her shoulders. “I, just-I guess I owe you an explanation, at least.” 

Marin pressed his lips together and looked down. “Uh-sure, go ahead.” Adrienne sighed. “No, forget it, you’ll think I’m weird.”

“It’s fine. No one can hear us.” Adrienne bit the inside of her lip as she let go. _It’s okay. It’s just Marin._ ”It’s just...ever since the car crash with mom, there are only three people I can really trust. Adrien’s great, but Adrien’s family, and the main reason Chloe and I are friends is that her dad became Prime Minister when we were thirteen. Luka’s the only connection that I have that isn’t tainted by my dad. So when Adrien and Marinette try to split us up for your sake, it hurts. It’s like I can’t have anything nice.” Marin’s stomach was twisted into a warm knot of guilt. “Listen, this came as a surprise to me as well. I don’t want to split you and Luka up either.” _Liar_ , Marin thought to himself. “What you have is great. I wouldn’t want to end that.”

“Yeah, it’s...it’s pretty nice, isn’t it?” Adrienne’s face suddenly clouded up, and she dropped her voice to its original register without trying. “Pretty...pretty nice.” Marin’s ears twitched. “ _Is_ everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine!” Adrienne’s voice cleared up again. “Everything’s great!”

“Adrienne, if you don’t want to tell me, it’s not my business-”

“No!”

“Huh?”

“It’s not, but I just...I need to tell someone, and it might as well be you. Can I trust you?” Marin twitched his mouth to the side. “Y-yeah. Sure, of course.” She lowered her voice. “I just-”

“Woah!”

“What?”

“Your voice-”

“Yeah, I have a fake voice. What, you don’t have a fake voice?” Marin’s eyes widened as he remembered to reinforce his voice. “Uh-no, I don’t. This is how I really talk.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. What about you and Luka, are you two breaking up on your own?”

“I never said that. Luka’s just...ugh, even he has his issues. I feel like sometimes I love our relationship more than I love him.” Marin walked with her in silence. “Does he know that?” Her face twisted up. “No? Yes? I don’t know. That’s the problem with him! He doesn’t want to talk about anything! Nothing important, anyway.”

Marin shrugged. “I don’t know, your relationship seems perfect.”

“Marin, sweetie, you’ve never been in a relationship, haven’t you?”

Marin jerked his head back. “I’ve had sex-”

“I’m not talking about sex, I’m talking about an actual relationship that isn’t perfect.”

“I never said it was, I said it _seemed_ perfect.” She paused. “Oh. Yeah. I guess.”

"I mean if I can't be half the boyfriend he is, then..." Marin let the sentence hang on air, the words being like daggers to him. They passed a few more rows of lavender in silence. “Marin, he’s the last thing I have. I’m not going to let that go.”

“But you’re not happy with it.” Adrienne looked down at Marin, and he looked away. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry-”

“No, don’t worry, you’re good. I, uh...I don’t know how to explain it? He knows what pisses me off and tries to make it right, and he’s  _such_ a sweetheart for it, but we never get to talk about it. It’s just  _over_ , end of the conversation, I’ve dealt with it. Like, what we’re talking about right now? We’ll never have this type of this discussion.” She paused again. “Oh my god, I’m rambling, aren’t I? Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

Marin reached out and squeezed Adrienne’s hand, cutting her off. “You’re gonna be fine. I don’t know enough to tell you how to live your life, but I know enough to know you’re going to do great.”

“But I _was_ rambling. Wasn’t I?”

Marin tried to hide the obvious grin on his face. “I mean...okay. Yeah, a little. You’re lucky I have a twin sister.” 

“I’m sorry, it’s kind of-”

“You need to stop apologizing. I, uh-have enough of that problem by myself.”

They finally came to the mound where the road was paved. A bus stop stood at the other side of the road, with a single bus line headed straight to town posted on the little signpost. “We’re here.” Adrienne looked around. “And nowhere to sit...” Marin jerked his thumb behind the post. “Look.” There was a small parish sitting a few yards away from the bus stop, a simple building of brick covered in clay and stucco. An Occitan cross sat on top of the steeple, denoting it as a Cathar parish. “Let’s go in and rest.”

“Are you sure it’s even unlocked?”

“Well Adrienne, there’s a proud tradition of churches regardless of denomination leaving their doors unlocked to provide sanctuary to those that need them going back to the-”

“Marin.” Fianceé and intended gave each other a withering look. “What I’m trying to say is that it’s worth a shot.” He looked up at the clouds. “Besides, are you sure you want to take your chances, out in the open? Because any moment now, it looks like it’s gonna rain-”

 

Thunder.

 

One raindrop. “Rain.”

 

And then another. And then five more. “Marin!”

“Okay, okay!” Marin pushed open the door. No locks-he was right. “Hello? Anyone home?” He looked around in the church-it was just as simple inside as it was outside. Marin looked around, and no one did seem to be home. Adrienne walked up to a corkboard with a letter posted to it. “What does it say?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing-just to close the door behind us and leave it how we found it.” Adrienne looked outside, then at Marin, who had sat down at the rearmost pew. She walked over and sat down across from him. “How bad is it?”

“It’s a real downpour. You know, maybe Adrien and Marinette could have done this on a day where there wasn’t rain?” Marin bookended a halfhearted joke with a halfhearted chuckle-one that was almost facetious. Adrienne followed with a fake laugh of her own-one that eventually turned genuine, from a small light giggle into a loud, crass guffaw. This sparked a new round of laughter within Marin. They both continued to inexplicably laugh, the clay stucco walls of the church ringing with their laughter.

“Marin?” Marin blinked his tears of laughter away to see Adrienne. “Yeah?”

“This was fun.” Marin snorted, a wide grin on his face. “Oh, don’t thank me, that was all-” She reached out her arm and placed a hand on his, which cut him off and caused his face to grow red. “Also, uh-I want to say I’m sorry. Again. You know, this is all kind of new to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Having real friends, people to talk to-”

“I mean, I'm just trying to be a good listener.”

“You don’t know how rare like you are in our line of work, in that case.” They paused like that for a moment while they felt that connection. 

Marin felt it first. He felt it slowly creep and wash over him, small droplets of clarity cleansing mud and dirt from his eyes, revealing this thing that, whatever it was, was real, happening, and true.

Adrienne was next, the realization flashing over her like a bolt of lighting, the sudden illumination revealing the truth to her. The shock of it sent her arms moving, her hand slowly flying over her lips.

 _There's no going back from this._ The thought went through both of their heads as the moment came, went, and passed.

Adrienne was the first to move, lowering her hand from her mouth as she went to check her watch. “When is the bus coming?”

“Any minute now. Should we go out there?”

“I don’t want to get wet.” Marin nodded and set his backpack down, pulling out a thin rain jacket and handing it to Adrienne. “Wait, no, you’ll get wet!”

“It’s fine. I have a _robust_ constitution.”

“Really?”

“Unless you want to get wet. I’ll be more than happy to take it back.” Adrienne frowned and took the jacket. “If you get a cold...”

“Last I checked you’re my fianceé, not my mom.” Adrienne slid it on and stood up. “Shall we?” Marin stood up and grinned as they walked back to the road, the bus coming in from the far end of the lavender field. _This might have worked after all._

* * *

Adrienne was on the bed back at the apartment, reading the press briefings that her private secretary had sent her while she was out. She heard the water pipes shut off, and heard the door open a few minutes later, allowing herself a small smile as she knew who it was.

Marin exited the bathroom, dressed in a change of clothes more suited to the change in weather. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She looked up from her phone. “We don’t have food here, so do you want to just order something, or-”

“Nah. Let’s just wait for Adrien and Marinette. I called them and told them we’re home. They’re on their way home.”

“Okay. We’ll talk then.” 

“Hey, if you want to-”

“No, go ahead, you deserve some alone time. I kind of do, too.” Adrienne nodded, a small disappointed look on her face. Marin walked over to her, and sat down next to her on the bed, placing a hand on her own. “Hey, so...you know how you said that you only had three people you could trust?”

“Yeah?” Marin smiled. “Now you’ve got four. Tell me if you’ve got anything on your mind, okay? We can talk about it.” He squeezed her hand and stood up to walk away. “Marin?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.” He walked away, and her phone began to ring once again. “Who is that?” She checked her screen. “Luka?”

“Oh, I should _really_ get going.” She giggled as she accepted the call. “Hey, babe!”

“Hey, hon! How are you doing?”

“I’m doing okay, actually.” Adrienne scanned Marin up and down as he walked through the doorframe, the broadest smile on her face. “Yeah. I’m doing _really_ good.”


	9. At the Opera

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! Here's another reminder to vote today-most polls close from 5-6!

“Adrien? Can you zip up my dress?” Adrien walked inside Adrienne’s dressing room and zipped up her dress-decidedly more straightforward this time, a yellow strapless sundress with a sweetheart neckline that matched a gold necklace that lay on the desk. Adrienne perked up and straightened herself, sniffing the air around her. “Are you-are you wearing musk?” She picked up the necklace from the desk and handed it to Adrien.

“N-no, why?”

“No, it’s just-you smell different.” Adrien looped the necklace around Adrienne’s neck and fixed the clasp in the back.

“Oh, yeah-I bought a bar of lavender soap during your date with Marin.” She smirked, hoping the dismissive tone of her voice masked the warming of her cheeks. “You mean the not-date that you and Marinette forced me on?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.” Adrienne turned around. “What, do you not like it?”

“No, it’s-it’s okay. I like the smell, if that’s not too weird-” Adrien snorted. “It’s only weird if you make it weird.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“How do I look?” Adrienne shot him a withering look, letting her eyes scan over him before locking in on his tie. “You could have swapped that tie to purple.” Adrien shrugged. “Marinette said it matched my eyes.”

“Oh yeah, and Marinette is already smitten with you. It does _not matter_ how you look.”

* * *

“Wait, wait!” Marinette rushed up to Marin and fixed his tie, beaming up at him. “Okay. _Now_ you look good.”

“Just good?”

“You look _great_.”

“Yeah.” A moment of silence passed by them. “You...have the tickets, right?”

“Yep!” Marinette held up four slips of paper, passing one along to Marin. Boxed seats to... “What show is it?”

“Barber of Seville.”

“Never seen it before, what’s it about?”

“No idea! It’s supposed to be a romcom.”

“A rom-com?” Marin jerked his head back. They hadn’t gone to the Aix Opera Festival in years, and now- “Did you score us tickets to the premiere this year just because it’s a rom-com?” Marinette strained her face as if to look like the cat who ate the canary. “Marinette?” Marin sat on her bet, a smirk on his face. “If they did Don Giovanni or Otello, would you have bought tickets?”

“No!” Marinette’s cheeks began to flush, and her hands flew to her mouth.“Wait, no, I meant-”

“Marinette.”

“I honestly didn’t know it was Barber of Seville, I promise, but it all works out. It’ll work! I promise, okay? I called the Artistic Director a few days ago just before we left, and he scored us the best seats in the house. It’ll be _fine._ ” Marinette sat down at her desk and reapplied her lipstick.

“And if she sees through it?”

“Sees through what, Marin? Our attempts at exposing her to the Occitan creative spirit?” She gave a small giggle. “It’s all a coincidence. And we’re trying to get her to fall in love with you, remember? This is what you want.”

“This is what we need. If Adrienne were willing to cooperate with us, then we wouldn’t have to go through with this.” Marin turned to the door. “Do you have any instructions for me?” He turned around and leaned against the door.

Marinette checked her appearance one last time in the mirror before joining her brother at the door. "Just enjoy the show with her, for starters. Be yourself, make her laugh, all that stuff." Marinette reassuringly patted Marin's shoulder and snuck through the doorway, a small bounce in her step as she started for the front door. "Now come on, our dates are waiting!" Marin fixed his tie-not that it needed fixing-and followed his sister.

* * *

The two sets of twins reunited joyfully-Marinette did, at the very least, practically jumping into Adrien’s arms and planting a kiss on him. "Are you guys excited?" Marinette eagerly asked as she passed the other two tickets to Adrien and Adrienne.

“You bet I'm excited!" Adrien leaned in and returned the kiss. "You look good." Marinette returned the kiss, her grin stretching from ear to ear. "You do too." He walked with her to the foyer. "So, uh-how is it with Marin? Is he nervous?" Marinette playfully winked before carrying on. "I think Marin may be a bit nervous, but he'll be alright. I just told him to be himself."

Whereas their siblings went for a hug and a quick kiss, Marin and Adrienne opted for a wave instead. Marin, for his part, stood in front of Adrienne for a few seconds while searching for something snarky to say. He had nothing. Adrienne quietly stood beside Marin, trying to think of a conversation starter. "You look nice, Marin."

"Yeah! You too." He extended his arm, offering Adrienne his hand. "Shall we?"

"Thank you." Adrienne smiled at him, reaching out to gently grasp his hand. "Are you excited to see the show?"

"Yeah. I guess I should be, seeing how I don't know anything about it."

She chuckled, nodding her head in agreement. "I don't know a single thing about it either, so it should be interesting for both of us, then."

Adrien's face fell a little bit as Marin and Adrienne approached the door. "Are you sure that's going to work? If Marin's himself? Maybe a little façade might be best with my sister."

Marinette quietly watched the two at the entrance, bobbing her head after a moment. "I think it will. Marin has the façade thing down pretty well already, and after their little impromptu date a few days ago, well... is it just me or do they seem a bit closer? I think our plan worked."

"A little. They seem friendlier, at least. A lot less awkward, but that's not exactly what the three of us are trying to go for, is it?"

Marinette shook her head, a small disappointment on her face. "No, I know. We may have to up our game a little bit, but... I think it's working nonetheless." Marinette's phone got a buzz as soon as Marin reached the foyer. "Is our ride here yet?"

Marinette peeked out one of the windows, looking down to the text on her phone. "I think they just drove up."

"Nice." Adrien wasted no time in opening the door. "After you, princess." Marinette walked out of the door with a small giggle, followed by Adrienne, followed by Marin. Adrien stopped Marin at the door with a grin. "By the way, Adrienne likes lavender."

Marin's face heated up a little. "Uh, o-okay. I'll, uh-keep that in mind." Marin got into the car with a confused look on his face, leaving Marinette wondering what Adrien had said to him.

"Everything alright, Marin?" Marinette studied him with a look of concern. She knew Adrien had told him something. She just had no idea what.

"Yeah." Marin shook his head. "Adrien just said something a little odd." He looked up at her with a grin. It's nothing. Everything's okay."

Marinette was still unsure, but she still nodded along. She knew Adrien was probably trying to help Marin with Adrienne. "If you're sure, then."

Marin looked over to Adrienne, who had a somewhat strange look on her face. She was playing with her nails. "Hey, you okay?"

"Oh- I'm fine. I was just thinking about a few things."

"Yeah, what about?"

"Just- ah... the trip so far, and everything."

 _Oh, no._ Marin scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah, uh-what about the trip? Is everything okay?"

"Oh, of course! Everything's wonderful, don't worry." Adrienne looked like she wanted to say more, but she stopped herself. She didn't want to admit too much with Marinette and her brother around.

"You can tell me later, right?" Marin squeezed her hand.

Adrienne squeezed his hand in return. "Of course, promise I will."

"Great." The car stopped, and Marin looked out to see it-the Théâtre de l'Archevéché. "We're here." He opened the door and slid out to make room for Adrienne. The reporters there took note of the two couples, but Marin guessed they were mostly there for the premiere of the festival-as the pictures they took were remarkably few.

Adrien leaned into Adrienne's ear. "This place would be mobbed with paparazzi if we were in Paris, right?" Adrienne nodded. “It’s almost like they don’t care.”

Adrienne gave a quiet laugh, recalling the many times the two of them were bombarded with photos and reporters back in Paris. "Oh, definitely. This is a bit of a change," Adrienne whispered back, smirking. Marinette walked up to Adrien, moving to gently slip her hand into his. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's just-I feel a lot better being out here tonight. You really don't know what it's like in Paris."

"I can't even imagine how Paris is for paparazzi and everything else. This is probably a nice change of pace, no?"

"Yeah. I, uh-I wouldn't mind staying here after we get married. With you. Leave all the royal stuff to Marin and Adrienne." Adrien curled an arm around Marinette's shoulders. "What do you think?"

Marinette cheerfully grinned, leaning into Adrien's side. "I think that sounds perfect! Aix would be a great place to live, especially with you." Marinette leaned in to peck his cheek.

Adrien chuckled as they sat down. "Wow, I'm already getting domestic on you. Sorry about that." Marinette laughed, shaking her head as she sat down in the seat beside him. "Oh- pfft. You're fine, don't worry."

Marin crossed his legs nervously as he moved his hand on the arms of his seat, freezing as his hands brushed against Adrienne's as she was about to do that same. "Oh-sorry."

Adrienne gently chuckled as she also took her seat, the hand that he brushed up against reaching out to lightly rest on top of his. "It's alright, Marin." She turned to look towards the stage, honestly quite excited to see the show.

Marin had a small seizure as his hands were forced to soften at Adrienne's touch. He took all the anxious energy and put it in a sigh as he leaned back against his seat. He sent a text to Marinette, with ten minutes left to go before the lights dimmed. **[mari what is goING ON]**

Marinette fished her phone out of her bag, quickly texting a reply. **[What's up? Looks like everything's fine over there ;)]**

**[not fine not fine nOT FINE WHAT IS GOING ON]**

Marinette leaned forward slightly, still in her seat, trying to peek over to the two. **[Calm down, calm down! This is working! Hold her hand!!]**

Marin followed her advice, sliding his hand on top of Adrienne's. He slowly turned off his phone and smiled up at the beautiful girl next to him as the lights began to dim and the overture began to play. 

Adrienne cheerfully smiled in his direction before turning her attention to the stage. She was thankful the lights dimmed as quickly as they did, and she hoped the darkness hid wide grin well enough that Marin wouldn't notice. _This is going just great._

* * *

Marin and Adrienne were all smiles as they stayed in their seats, not even seeing Marinette and Adrien leave them behind. "How is it so far? The show, I mean?"

"Yeah, it's...it's really fun. I'm glad you're enjoying it." Marin placed his hand on her own. "So, uh...what were you thinking about, back in the car?"

"Oh, well-..." Adrienne turned to look around, making absolutely sure that Marinette and Adrien had left the general area. She squeezed Marin's hand and leaned in, whispering quietly to him, "I was just thinking about how fun this trip has been so far. I'm sorry for being a bit of a sourpuss in the beginning, and I'm happy you all made me come to Aix. This is the most fun I've had in a long time if I'm honest."

"Hey, it's okay-you've apologized more than enough at this point. And...I don't expect you to be completely on board with this, but...this is going to be your country too, in a few years. You should get to know it." He paused. "I’m a little surprised that you find this fun, though. Isn't this a little slow for you?"

Adrienne shook her head, taking a quick glance at the now empty stage. "I think that's why I enjoy it so much, actually. Everything in my life usually moves so fast, from modeling to royal duties... this is a nice change."

"Good." Marin nodded his head. "Is there anything else, or can we get something to drink? I'm enjoying this, but I think I'll die if I don't get wine or a diet coke like, right now." That earned him a nod from Adrienne. “Oh, absolutely. I’m definitely in need of a drink.” She stood up, giving a little stretch. This stretch warranted a blush from Marin, who awkwardly looked down and tried to focus on his phone.

Marin was careful to look down as he stood up, just as Adrienne was stretching herself out. They walked out together, blissfully unaware that Adrien and Marinette were hiding in plain sight, watching them. "Marinette? Are you aware of the term 'tsundere?'"

Marinette quirked a brow as she looked over to Adrien, clearly unfamiliar with the word. “I have no idea. What does it mean?” Adrien thought to himself. "Let me put it a different way. Have you ever given any thought to the fact that Marin might have a crush on her? As in, a massive crush?"

Marinette gave a low hum as she thoughtfully watched the two before giving her nod of agreement. “Oh, I _know_ he has a huge crush on her. It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”

Adrien looked down sheepishly. "Oh. Is he that obvious? Obviously, you know him better than I do."

Marinette gave a soft giggle as she comfortingly patted his shoulder. “It’s okay. I guess his crush might not be extremely obvious to others, but...well, it is to me. It’s the little things he does that really shows how much he likes her.”

"Mhm." Adrien nodded. "I guess I can't help but feel a little sorry. How long have you seen him like this?"

Marinette had to think for a minute, trying to recall how long she’d seen Marin acting this way. “God, I don’t know. It’s hard to remember an exact date.”

"Huh. Weird." Adrien sighed, resting his arm on Marinette's shoulder. "I feel bad for the guy if he really does have a crush on her."

She lightly rested against his side, letting out a soft sigh. “I hope he’ll be okay.”

"Should we talk to him about it, or-"

“We could, do you think it would help?”

"You know him better than I do. I'd suggest it. Send him a text telling him we need to talk after the show."

“Mkay.” Marinette pulled her phone out of her purse. **[Marin. You, me, and Adrien. After the show.]**

* * *

"Okay, what is it? Am I messing up?" Adrien, Marin, and Marinette were all in the living room, Adrienne two rooms away in her own bedroom. "Please tell me I'm doing my job." He paused as if to sniff out the true meaning of the meeting. "Wait, assuming this is a strategy meeting at all. What's this about?"

Adrien looked at Marinette nervously, then back to Marin. "Well, Marin, I-" He gulped and put his hand on Marin's shoulder. "Marin, Marinette and I-we've seen how you look at Adrienne." There was a moment of silence, Marin's eyes slowly widening.

"Wait-"

"You love her, don't you?"

A small gasp escaped out of Marin's throat. "What?" Marin looked to Marinette. "Mari, what's going on?"

“N-nothing bad!” Marinette tried to quickly reassure her brother. “Adrien and I just thought that-I don’t know, that we could give you some tips, or something.”

"No, no, back up. What did he just say?"

Marinette blinked. “What did who say?”

"Him! Your fianceé! What did he say about Adrienne and me?" Marin walked up to Marinette, his palms pressed together and his demeanor desperate. "Mari, please don't play dumb with me right now. And _please_ tell me he didn’t say what he just said."

“Oh! That you love Adrienne? I mean, you do, don’t you?”

Marin gave them a blank look as he gave a low, mirthless chuckle. "I'm sorry. Define love?"

"I think you know what we mean, Marin-"

"Try me. Maybe I don't?" Adrien shrugged, giving a small laugh himself to hopefully distill away some of the tension. "It's fine, Marin. I wouldn't have signed up for this if I didn't approve of you, which I d-"

"No, no, no. I don't know what you mean, Adrien-Marinette, what does he mean?"

Marinette stood there, meekly shifting her gaze to the floor. This meeting definitely wasn’t going like she planned it would. “Marin, c’mon. Don’t be like this. You obviously feel _something_ for Adrienne, don’t you?”

Marin started laughing uncontrollably-but Marinette could have confused them for sobs. "I'm sorry, where are you getting your information?" He smirked at Adrien, who obviously had no answer. "You obviously see things that aren't there. Why would I have a crush on your sister, again?" He looked around at Marinette, his face twisting into a sneer. "Right, well, if neither of you are going to contribute anything _useful_ , I suppose we should end this meeting early." He cocked his head and began to leave, but Adrien grabbed his arm. "Hey, let go!"

Marinette’s brows drew together. “Marin.” Marinette hesitated to say anything. She felt terrible about this as is, and all she wanted to do was try and help her brother-or at least that’s what she had hoped to do. Now she was clearly fighting an uphill battle against a brick wall. “We just wanted to help.”

"And you're doing a good job of it! Really! Thank you for all your help! I think we're making some good headway." Marin nodded. "But let's not see things that aren't there. We're trying to get Adrienne to fall in love with me, okay? Not the other way around."

Marinette frowned. She knew that there was no way they could confirm his feelings or persuade him to feel anything. “Right, if you say so... and if you’re absolutely sure.”

"Just to be absolutely clear, Marinette: I _don't_ like her." Marin opened the door, before turning to Marinette and Adrien. "Oh, uh-Mari. Thanks for the tickets. I liked the show, and uh...I think Adrienne did, too."

Marin closed the door. He gently slammed his head against the door three times before turning and running face first into the sweetheart neckline of a sunflower-yellow dress.

"Woah! Adrienne! Hey, uh-what, uh-what're you doing here? You weren't listening in, were you?" He gave a nervous grin in an attempt to hide the blush on his face as he looked up at Adrienne.

“No, no!” Adrienne quickly shook her head, biting back the small amount of hurt she felt from what she had heard. “I had no idea you were in there! I didn’t hear anything. I _was_ trying to look for you, though.”

"You...didn't hear anything, did you?" Marin held her hand. Adrienne weakly held his hand in return. Marin could feel everything-the tension in her skin, the raised blood pressure in her radial artery, the pursed lips. "I can explain if you'd like." He walked past her. "In your room?"

She gave a small nod, her mind still reeling as she tried to process what he had said earlier. _This should be fun_. “I-I guess? Sure...”

Marin sighed as he walked inside her room. "Okay, so-" Marin sat on the bed and patted the space next to him. "If you want." Adrienne gently sat next to him on the bed, her face downcast as she took a sudden interest in her heels.

Marin continued. "Okay, so-Adrien and Marinette were under the impression that I, you know-I liked you. Like, _like_ like liked you. You know what I mean?" His cheeks were burning. "And-I don't. Cause that would be weird, right?" He gave a short, nervous laugh. "I mean, it wouldn't be _weird_ weird, because you know, you're gorgeous and everything, but like-I don't personally have feelings for you. No offense." _Liar._

“I understand, yes.” She cast a glance over to him, her breath caught into her chest. She didn't even know what her own feelings towards him were yet, but it still hurt to hear that he didn’t _like_ like her. “Right. So weird, heh... definitely _too_ weird.”

"Yeah. So, we good?" Marin opened his arms to Adrienne, then noticed her confusion. "Oh, sorry. I mean, French people usually aren't known for being huggers-"

“Oh— uh. Hugs. Right.” Adrienne leaned in, giving Marin an awkward hug. Adrienne wasn’t sure what she felt, exactly-all she knew was that she felt terrible.

Marin closed in the hug, before suddenly pulling away. "Woah! Hey! Wow, you, uh-you're cold! I mean, like-your hands and arms are cold, I really didn't notice that." She gave a small giggle despite herself. “Yeah, I guess so? I didn’t really know. Maybe you’re just warm?”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

Marin looked down at his own shoes for a second before standing up to leave. “Okay! I will get going, time to go to bed-” He began to walk away, but found himself restrained by an Agreste for the second time that night. “Oh...kay.” He turned to face Adrienne. “What is it?”

“Wait...” She bit her lip. “You shouldn’t have to sleep on the couch again. Do you want to sleep with me from here on out?”

Marin’s face went as red as it could get as his mind fell right in the gutter. “Woah, I-”  
“No! No! Not like-no.” She shook her head violently. “Just...like in the same bed. Asexually. A cuddle, at most.” She sighed. “Just don’t grab my ass or anything, okay?”

“Yeah. Not that I would. And, uh-don’t grab mine?” Marin’s smirk faded into a genuine smile. “I’ll take a shower.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you go ahead and do that.” Adrienne opened her phone as her bathroom door closed, where Luka smiled down from her lock screen. She mumbled a quick apology to her boyfriend in her head, and couldn’t shake a lingering feeling that it wouldn’t be the last time.

 


	10. Back on the Road

“Okay, so who’s driving?” Marin placed his duffel bag in the back before closing the trunk and walking up to the driver's seat, where Marinette stopped him.

“What? I can keep driving.”

“ _Not_ if I have anything to say about it.”

“I can go, I swear-“ He reached for the door handle, going to open the door.

Marinette cocked a brow, shaking her head and slapping his hand away from the door handle. “Hey!”

"Marin, you look terrible. I'm driving today." Marinette gave a sheepish smile, hoping her words hadn't been too harsh. It was true; Marin didn't look like his best self, and it would be best to give him a break.

"What? No, come on! I'm rested! Last night was great." He grinned. "It'll be worth it, I promise."

She gave a light chuckle, walking closer to her brother to nudge at his side playfully. "What's with that grin? What even _happened_ last night, pray tell? You clearly didn't get any sleep because of it."

"No! I got tons of sleep." Marinette gave him a look. "Okay, maybe a little less than usual. But that was because I made some...I made some headway last night." Marin shrugged. "Listen, either way. I think we have to go hard on the whole masc-thing. It'll pay off, I promise."

Marinette knew Marin was happy, in his smug, Marin-ish sort of way. She also knew he walked into Adrienne's room and didn't walk out. Marinette went to place her hand on the door handle, deciding not to press the matter any further. It might be best not to know the whole story, anyway; she would rather know as little as possible about her brother's intimate life.

“We need to capitalize on it.”

“That would have been a good plan, but not by driving a car while sleep deprived.”

“Still-” She cut him off. “Whatever it was, I'm glad you made some progress last night. That's a good sign.” She grinned as she opened the door.

“Woah, woah, wha-calm down, tiger." Marin grabbed Marinette’s shoulder and pulled her out. "Hey, what exactly did you think I di-”

"I don't want to know. I don't want to know!”

“We didn't...do anything. That's not going to happen." Marinette snorted, quickly shaking her head and waving her hands. Whether you did _that_ or not, I'd rather not know." Marinette tried to reign in her giggles.

"Either way. Keys, please?" Marinette saw Adrienne get into the backseat of the car, behind Marin's back. _Hell no, he’s not going to drive._ She looped the ring of keys around her finger, before clasping them in her fist. Dashing toward the driver's seat, she shot a devilish grin at her brother from over her shoulder. "Nope, not today!"

"Oh, okay, so-" Marin turned to see Adrien jump into the passenger seat, and he got a small flashback from the week before. "Wait, no!" He ran for the only spot open-the free spot in the backseat-and pumped his fist in triumph. "Oh, hell yeah! Not pulling that one on me a-"

He noticed a nervous mop of yellow hair next to him. "-again."

Marinette's reflection winked at Marin from the rearview mirror. "Everybody ready to go?"

His face paled as he turned to face her in earnest. "Uh. Hey."

"Hi, Marin." Adrienne turned to him, trying to brush his nervousness-as well as her own-away with a slight smile instead. They felt the pavement switch from cobblestone to the A8. Marin felt a small lurch in his stomach, but it had nothing to do with Marinette's (admittedly cautious) driving. "Are you, uh-are you nervous?"

"Oh, no! Are you?" Adrienne answered a bit too quickly. It's wasn't entirely a lie, of course. After all, she wasn't nervous about the trip itself or Marinette's driving. There were more pressing issues in the seat next to her that deserved her attention.

"You mean the fact Adrien might distract Marinette and we'll all fall off of the road? Yeah." Marin scoffed. _Okay, that was a good joke. No wait, it was a terrible joke._ Marin slowly blinked stars out of his eyes. "Wow, I might fall out of the car."

Adrienne chuckled at the admittedly awful joke. "What, do you need me to hold onto you, so you don't fall out?" she joked back.

"If you want." Marin looked up at Adrienne with a faint light in his eyes. He looked so vulnerable with his eyes slowly drifting off to sleep, and his seat unbuckled.

Adrienne blinked, her gaze flicking from Marin's tired face to his unbuckled seat belt, then back to him. She shimmied around in her seat to loosen her seatbelt enough to reach across him, dragging his seatbelt safely into place in the clasp. Marin strained his closed eyes, his hands clamming up as he felt Adrienne drape herself across him. “There we go."

"Mmmhmmm." Marin slowly dove to sleep, his head landing into Adrienne's shoulder. "Hnnn, you smell nice. Did I tell you that last night?"

In the passenger seat, Adrien flinched. Marinette’s eyes widened as she started smacking Adrien’s hand, the two almost bursting out laughing.

Adrienne let Marin's head rest against her shoulder, trying her hardest not to move around too much. "You didn't tell me that...but thank you."

"Mhm. Well, you do." He looked-or would have looked, had he had his eyes open-up at Adrienne. "Is this okay?"

Adrienne turned her head a tad, looking over to him. "This is fine, don't worry. You should get some rest."

Marin undid his seat-Marinette flinched at that-and cuddled up next to Adrienne. "And this?"

Although Adrienne would have described him as sleek, Marin's body had a definition to him. Form. One could even say bulk. He certainly wasn’t Adrien.

It felt nice; Adrienne wondered with nothing but the purest curiosity what was what was under that shirt of his. _Woah, wait, what am I-_

Adrienne's cheeks heated up as her thoughts suddenly turned a bit more inappropriate. Without thinking about poor Marin, who was taking occupancy on her shoulder, she quickly shook her head in a hopeless attempt to dispel any lingering thoughts in her mind. She wondered where those thoughts suddenly came from, and it came as no surprise to her that that didn't help. “Adrienne?”

"This is... fine."

"Mmkay." Marin slid his arm-god, those biceps-around Adrienne's arm, placing his hand on hers as he leaned into her tall, lanky frame for support. "M'Sorry."

Adrienne rested up against Marin's side, her face turning a hundred shades darker as she felt his arm wrap around her. She tilted her head forward somewhat, letting her hair fall in front of her face. Hopefully, that would deter both Marinette and Adrien. Adrienne knew she wouldn't hear the end of it if they saw her like this.

"It's alright, don't be sorry."

Adrien turned around in his seat to face Adrienne. "Hey, Adri, look on your right, we're about to pass-oh." Adrien's eyes widened. "Oh...kay."

Adrienne cast a glance toward her brother through the veil of hair in her face, still trying to stay hidden for the most part. "What's on the right?"

"Nnn...othing." Adrien shrugged. "Just a friendly cuddle between friends, I guess?"

Her head started nodding quickly, and she responded with a harsh whisper. "Exactly! I'm his pillow so he can get some much-needed rest. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Uh-huh." He took out his phone and texted Adrienne. **[and the fact that I didn't see him leave your room until this morning??]**

Adrienne stared down at the text, trying to come up with a plausible reply without spilling the entire can of beans. **[Yes. And?]** _Perfect, Adrienne. Don't give away more information than you need to._

 **[whatevr happened to 'not half the bf Luka is' or smth like that?]** Adrienne heard an amused snort from the passenger seat.

**[Look, last night meant nothing. I would've felt bad to chase him out of my room just for him to sleep on the couch. I was trying to be nice.]**

**[mkay. you two seemed cozy at the opera tho]** Adrien paused, and then sent another text. **[keep it up]**

 **[We'll see.]** She decided to cuddle up a bit closer to Marin now. He was a good source of warmth, warming her cold frame like a furnace. She heard another ping. _Adrien. Again._

 **[I meant for the cameras pffff what did you think I meant? everyone is going to think you like like like each other]** Another pause. **[which is what we want]**

In response, Adrien heard a slight 'eek' from the backseat. Adrienne _clearly_ misunderstood that last text. She quickly started tapping on her phone to bite out a quick retort.  **[Of course! I knew what you meant! Obviously, this is all just for the cameras.]**

"Adri-what're you typing?"

"Nothing, go back to sleep." Marin chuckled. "Look at you, texting Luka and cuddling me at the same time. Such a power move." _Oh, now look what Adrien's done!_

"Wha-no! I'm not!"

“Oh, I’m sorry, who’re you texting?” Marin only seemed mildly bothered at the tapping and pinging of Adrienne’s phone-not at who Adrienne might have been texting. "It's none of my business, sorry." He elected to drift back to sleep.

She faintly shook her head, squeezing his hand. “It’s okay. I’m sorry _whoever_ was texting me woke you up.” Adrienne gave a glare to the back of Adrien’s head.

"No worries. I'm sure you and they are close, whoever they are." Marin frowned, and Adrienne could feel the muscles release and the lungs collapse. It was a tired sigh and one that was slightly sad.

Adrienne looked over to him, the corners of her lips tugging down into a frown. She hoped that Marin knew he was close to her, too-at least, close like she wanted them to be. She would’ve loved to tell him that, but she would never hear the end of it from the two sitting in front. Instead, she picked up her phone and began to text.

* * *

“Marin.”

“Who’s going to wake him up?” Adrien shifted over and poked Marin’s cheek. Marin acted acidically, scowling at Adrien while refusing to open his eyes. “Mmkay, I’m up."

"You don't look up." Marin's eyes gently shot open as he offered Adrien a rude gesture. "I’m _up_. What is it?” He looked up at Adrienne. “Oh. Hello there.” He looked down to Marinette. “Where are we?”

Adrienne gave a smile in greeting to Marin, uttering a soft 'good morning' his way before turning her attention to Marinette.

Marinette beamed at the two as she responded, clearly excited by where ever they were. "Well-- we aren't in Nice yet! We've just arrived in Cannes. Adrien and I thought it would be a good idea to make a stop here." Marin looked outside the window. Where he had closed his eyes around old stucco buildings and rolling lavender hills, he now opened them to the sound of braying seagulls and the benign crashing of surf.

"Oh, yeah." Marin sat up and looked out of the windshield to see a brightly lit beach, frequented by palm trees and dominated by a Mediterranean sea as clear as the cloudless sky above it. He turned to look at Adrienne blearily. "Should we go? I think we're getting close to where I can get a half-decent espresso."

Adrienne peered out the window, then gave the nod. _I could use a coffee pick-me-up, too._  Marin looked over at Adrien. "What were you guys going to do?"

“We didn't have much planned! We were most likely going to wander around and shop for a bit, and maybe grab a coffee as well."

"Mhm! Okay." Marin looked out at the ocean. Marinette had parked them right on the beach. The warm surf looked appealing to all four of them. "Wow, I can't wait to get back to Nice. Finally gonna be able to take a dip."

Adrienne followed Marin's gaze towards the water, unable to hold back a happy sigh at the mention of swimming. She thought back to the few swimsuits she had brought along with her on the trip. The hard part would be choosing which one to wear.

"Okay, I'm getting out." Adrien looked down at Marinette. "Hey, you know what I think? I think it would be a _great_ idea if we all took a dip. It shouldn't be hard to rent a small tent on the beach for like, thirty minutes. And the water _does_ look nice." Marin had to give them that-the water did look nice.

"What do you think, Mari?" Adrien looked down at Marinette, who gave an excited gasp at the suggestion, her face lighting up with pure joy as she shot a look at Marin. "That's perfect! I'd love to go for a swim, and I've heard they have some pretty nice cabins here. It would be fun!" She turned to look at Marin and Adrienne in the back seat. "What about you two? Good plan?" 

"Um..." Marin felt his throat dry as he looked up to Adrienne. _Wait._ _Oh. Ooooh._ "That's...actually a great idea." He bit his lip and started to chuckle. "That works just fine."

Adrienne also nodded, not wanting to be a stick in the mud as the only one _not_ swimming. "I agree."

"Great! So we're all going. Mari and I will get the reservations-that should NOT be hard-and you two should get some coffee. Good plan?"

* * *

Marin lowered the small glass of espresso down on the table and looked out at the waves and the coast. "Wow. I needed this." He looked across the table at Adrienne. "Are you enjoying your first decent cup of coffee?"

Adrienne nodded, her own cup of coffee held firmly between her two hands. "Absolutely. I never realized black coffee could be possible," she joked, chuckling at herself while Marin cocked his head. "See? You can make a good cup of coffee without drowning it in cream and sugar." [4] Marin squeezed Adrienne's hand before pulling away at her less-than-ideal reaction. "Oh, uh-sorry."

 **“** Oh, er-...no! That's...fine." she replied awkwardly, her gaze landing on her coffee cup. She raised it to her lips, falling silent as she took a sip.

"No, I mean-are you okay with it? It seems weird. Like, two weeks ago we were at each other's throats, and now we're all cuddly. Don't you find that weird?"

As her cup lowered back to the table, she gave a faint sigh, her head dipping into a nod. "You know, I have to admit...it _is_ a little weird, yes."

"So why are you okay with it? I mean-" Marin shrugged as he crossed his legs. "I'm never going to say I'm not okay with cuddling a supermodel. So if anyone should have a problem with it, it's you."

Adrienne gave a slight smile at his last comment, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before gazing out the window. "I... guess for the cameras and everything, you know? Public reputation and...everything." _Alright, so that was kind of a lie._ But she wasn't sure what exactly to tell him, and she had to tell him something, after all.

"I. Guess?" Except their moments were fleeting, hidden-out of the public eye. In public, they shared meaningful glances, a small peck on the cheek, a smile here and there. But their intimacy was reserved for private occasions. "I guess we just needed to put on an act for the hidden cameras in our bedroom last night." Marin snorted as he raised his cup to his lips.

“Marin!" Adrienne's cheeks immediately heated, and she propped her face up with her hand in a most likely failed attempt to hide how red she was. She knew what she had said was an extremely unconvincing lie.

He picked up on the reaction from Adrienne. _Ouch. Too far?_ He lowered his cup and gave a small smile. "Jesus Adrienne, I was joking!" Her eyes widened even more.  _Oh, did I misinterpret_ that, _too?_ She tried to quickly play her reaction off as a joke. "Of course you were, I-... I knew that."

“Okay, if you say so." Marin took out his phone. "Adrien's got the cabin. Shall we?"

“Oh, the cabin." Adrienne had nearly forgotten about the rest of their plans. "Yes, let's go."

Marin offered her his hand. "You know. For the crowds?" She reached out to gently hold his hand, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Right, of course."

They crossed the street (where a few people took pictures, justifying the hand-holding to Adrienne, at least,) walked down the steps to the beach into the large tent, where Marinette was applying sunscreen to Adrien's back. "Oh, glad you could make it!"

Adrien smirked and pointed at Adrienne still holding hands with Marin.

Adrienne quickly released Marin's hand at that, her own hand dropping to her side as she scowled at her brother. "Hmph, right. Looks like you two are having fun already."

Marinette took her hands off of Adrien's back, looking confused. "Huh? What does that mean?"

"It, er...it was a joke. Sorry." Adrienne scratched the back of her neck, a little sheepish. She didn't mean to sound as harsh as she did.

"Oh, okay!" Marinette gave a small, nervous chuckle, still blissfully unaware of the joke. "So, you two-there are two changing stalls in the back of the tent. I already put your bathing suits in there." Marin nodded and walked into his stall, wondering what Marinette had picked out for him.

Adrienne's brows drew together in confusion. Marinette had picked bathing suits _for_ them? While she didn't doubt that Marinette would pick something that looked incredible, at least Adrienne hoped that was the case, she did wish she picked something out herself. _Nothing to be done about it now though_ , thinking Adrienne as she made her way over to her own stall.

Adrienne hesitantly stepped into the stall, strangely nervous to see what kind of suit Marinette had picked for her. _Please be tasteful, please be tasteful, please- oh!_ It was an emerald green one-piece, with a heart-shaped opening in the upper back. _Oh, thank god._ It was tasteful enough for Adrienne, who'd seen-and been a part of-quite a few risqué shoots in her day. Adrienne breathed a sigh of awe, quickly changing into it. No, she didn't mind wearing this one bit.

Adrienne stepped out of the closet. Adrien gave a lopsided grin. "You look good. Marin's waiting outside."

“Thanks. I'll go and see him." With that, Adrienne wandered out of the tent to find Marin.

Marin turned around, and Adrienne would have laughed at the first sight of her shirtless fiancée. She would have laughed if it wasn't for his well-toned ass and thighs, which were completely visible under his bright-red skin tight swim trunks. A small Occitan cross was embroidered at the front of them.

Or his washboard abs.

Or his perky, built arms.

Or his V- _wait, he has a V_?

Or his pecs, which Adrienne could have fried an egg on if she knew how to fry an egg.

He wasn't jacked, per se-not freakishly so. It was nice, a perfect swimmers body, and _lean as all hell_ , with nary an ounce of fat on him. Adrienne realized at that point that this was the first time she had seen him shirtless. She also realized for the first time she got herself an absolute _catch_ in the looks department.

Instead of laughing or smirking, her jaw instead ran the risk of dropping open as she caught sight of Marin, luckily she had the willpower to stop herself. She wasn't unable to prevent herself from staring a bit, however.

Marin gave her a cheeky grin. "Hey. Took you long enough."

“Hi! Yeah, er...it took me a while to change."

"Seriously?" Marin cocked his head. "Nevermind. It was worth it. You look good. Wish I brought my camera." He stretched out his arms, taking in the sun. "You ready to hit the surf?"

"Oh-thank you. You look good, too." She smiled to him, and luckily this gave her a moment to stare a bit longer without being too obvious about it. "I'm absolutely ready! To go swimming."

"Alright." Marin offered her his hand, and they walked into the surf together. They could hear the small shutters of cameras go off around them. "I could chase them off, but it'd be off-putting." He looked up to her. "Better to put on a show?"

She gave a faint grin, convincing herself it was just for the cameras, too. "I think so. The public would go crazy if we did. In a good way."

"Uh-huh." Marin stepped out so they were facing each other, the surf up to their waists. "So, who's going to go in first?"

"Up to you, I can if you'd like." She looked up to him, her camera-ready smile plastered on her face at the ready.

"Better if you did. I mean, it just looks better, given everything that’s happened. And then I can follow up with a hand to the back of the head or whatever." At least, that was the reason Marin gave her. 

"Makes sense." Adrienne murmured softly, slowly leaning in. Her hand came up to lightly brush up against his cheek as she pressed a kiss against his lips. Marin pressed himself into the kiss perhaps a little more than he should have, giving a soft hum as he curled a hand around the back of her head and another on her hip. "Should I stop?"

"No. Don’t." Adrienne gently looped both of her arms around his neck. She lightly pecked his lips again, trying to convince herself that that media exposure was the reason why she didn't want to stop.

Marin began to hear a few cheers, but more clicking. He placed his other hand on Adrienne's hip, dragging his tongue against her lips as if to ask for entrance before pulling away for a split second, their foreheads still pressed together. "Yeah, there's a reason they don't call this Occitan kissing."

She gave a soft laugh, not protesting his actions in the slightest. Adrienne didn't want to admit to herself that she enjoyed this, especially when she remembered Luka, but when there was a moment like this that she could get lost in with Marin... well. She'd gladly take it.

His body was still warm, even in the chilly seawater. They separated, albeit still connected to the hip. "This is a little long for a staged kiss, don't you think?"

Adrienne reluctantly pulled back with him, trying to come up with some explanation. "We're just making it believable. After all, they can't know it was staged."

"You're right." Marin lowered his head, looking up at Adrienne with those puppy dog eyes. "We should be a little redundant. Can I get another kiss, your highness?" She looked to him, giggling at his cute expression. "Aww, I'm not sure. Can you?" she teased with a smile.

"That's up to you." Marin tilted his head back up with a cocky grin, giving Adrienne a clear shot to his lips. His very sensual, full, kissable lips.

Adrienne decided to fight back a bit, batting her eyelashes his way. "If you want a kiss, you'll have to come and get it, _your highness_."

"You'll have to bend down a little bit to help me out."

 _I'll give him that,_ she decided _,_ leaning in as he prepared himself for another kiss.


	11. The Kiss Seen Round The World

“Madame Chamak? Call on line one.” Nadja gave one last sigh at the picture of her little Manon sitting on her desk before picking up the phone. “This is Nadja.”

“Nadja? It’s Serge.”

“Hey, Serge, what’s up?” Nadja leaned back. “How’s the little prince?”

“Check your email. I sent it to you already, but you need to see it, now.” No small talk-Serge just got right into it, which was uncharacteristic of him. Nadja gave a small chuckle. “How bad is it?”

“It’s not bad, but-just check the email.”

“When did you get these pictures, exactly?”

“Just today. Listen, Nadja, I-I gotta go.”

“Oh-okay. Bye.” She didn’t even get to finish her farewells as the line closed off, looking at the receiver with a perplexed look. She eventually closed the receiver to the phone and opened her email. “Okay, okay, what’s he on about-oh.”

Six pictures in all, but those six pictures said a lot. “Okay. Yeah, that is news.” She picked up her phone. “Hey. When’s the earliest we could schedule an interview?” She heard a sigh on the other end of the line. “Nadja, we’re stacked for a full month, and they’re not going to let us cancel unless we’re interviewing royalty or something...” The scheduler droned on, but Nadja spotted something on her calendar on the adjacent wall and grinned. “We’re canceling the XY interview. The one in two weeks.”

“What? Madame Chamak, we’re not doing that unless they’re royalty-” Nadja couldn’t keep from cutting him off with her laughter. 

* * *

Alya was cut out of her train of thought by a loud series of claps and cheers from the breakroom. Groaning and picking up her bag, she moseyed over to the already cramped room, where Champagne and Rosé were sitting together side by side. Co-workers and interns were patting each other on the back and hugging each other. Muzak covers of _Grand Dieu, Sauve le Roi_  and _Se Canta_ were playing in the background in what was already a confusing mess.

“Hey.” Alya touched a fellow intern on the back of the shoulder, her face full of confusion. “What’s up?”

“What’s up is that you just landed a job after college!” The intern shoved a piece of paper in Alya’s face. “Okay, what the hell is-oh. _Oh_.”

“Yeah.”

“Was this-”

“They’re even going to write about this in America. We’re bigger than the Royals in the UK!” Alya saw the royal press secretary-her boss-offer her a fistbump. “This was all you, Alya.”

Alya gave a small giggle as she met the fistbump with one of her own. “Sir, this was a team effort, but thank you.” Alya didn’t have the heart to tell them that this was all Marin’s idea. “But I was completely on board with the plan.”

“Now, we’re not out of the woods yet. One kiss isn’t going to change the entire public perception about the royal couple. And considering both Prince Marin and the Princess of Brittany are the presumptive heirs, we’re going to need to double our efforts.” The press secretary handed Alya a small glass of champagne. “Enjoy the party. We’ve got some work to do.” 

* * *

"What _is it_ , Jean-Claude?” Chloè Bourgeois, Second Daughter of Paris (after you-know-who,) stepped out of her spacious boudoir within the Palais de l'Élysée clad in a charcoal face mask, a pair of sandals and a bathrobe. “Can’t you see I’m _busy_?” She gave a small glare at her butler.

Jean-Claude cleared his throat before moving to speak, reaching into his pocket to give Chloè her phone. “Apologies, Mademoiselle Bourgeois. You told me to notify you about any news regarding Her Highness the Princess Adri-”

“Thank you, Jean-Claude. You may go.” Jean-Claude gave a short nod and turned the other way as Chloè closed the door behind her. “I knew this trip would go terribly for he-” She opened it and what she saw made her mouth drop open.

“Really? _Him_?” First off; she had to add that Prince Marin was more attractive than she’d realized. Didn’t make up for the genuine surprise-Occitan, a little dorky-looking, half-Asian, and half a head shorter than her? “Gotta give her a piece of my mind...”

**[okay Adri i get that youre cheating on luka but seriously]**

* * *

****“Luka.” Luka sat on the couch in the otherwise empty recording studio, his face fairly empty. “Luka. Mate. God, I-” Jagged Stone stood up and looked down at his apprentice. “You’re Luka _fucking_ Couffaine, there’s no way in hell she fell out of love with you. Especially with _him_.”

“I know, I know.” He shook his head and turned off the phone, putting it in his pocket. “I just-”

“You just what?”

“What if she does?”

“Does _what_?”

“Likes him?” Jagged shrugged. “I mean, she’s not your first girlfriend, what about Mari-”

“ _I_ broke that one off. This one feels different.” Luka shook his head. “I mean, is it cheating?” Jagged began to chuckle, shaking his head. “Luka, you’re a rock star. In my experience, girls tend to cheat _with_ you, not _on_ you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I-”

“Luka. It’s just one kiss. Haven’t you heard of a publicity stunt?” Luka slowly nodded. “That’s what it was?”

“Yeah! I’m sure it means nothing.” Jagged placed a hand on Luka’s shoulder. “Look. I want you to go home, sit down with a pen and paper and-and try to write it out. Then we’ll get back here in the morning and jam out. Mmkay?” Luka slowly nodded, wiping away the small tears-tears that weren’t even quite there-away from his eyes. “Mmkay.”

* * *

 “Well, that’s one thing taken care of.”

“What do you mean?” André Bourgeois, the Prime Minister of France, gave a smile as he sat down across from his boss. “I take it you don’t read the gutter press?”

“How long have we been meeting like this?”

“Seven years in five months, your majesty.”

“So you know me better than that.”

“Tell me you at least check your press briefings.”

“I checked the public briefings this morning. What, was there something in the personals that I missed?” André let his smile fade and took out a copy of the picture, sliding it across the table. Gabriel viewed it for a few seconds before turning it around face down on the table, giving his perpetual glare out of the window. “Who has it?”

“Who-well, everyone.”

“And is there any more proof?”

“Anything any more proof of what, your majesty?” Gabriel stood up and walked over to the window, looking down at the Tuileries that were spread out below his window. “Any more proof of a relationship, you dolt.”

“Don’t tell me you’re against it.” André’s turn to stand up, this time. “You’re the one who came up with this idea in the first place, _and_ you sanctioned the trip without my counsel-”

“Answer the question.”

“Well, n-no, your highness.” Gabriel shook his head. “Do you think they’re in love?”

“That’s not for me to say, your majesty. What would you rather-”

“I would rather he wasn’t. I hope neither of them are.” Gabriel turned around to look up at the portrait of him and his wife on their wedding day and felt very cold and alone for the second time in his life. “Sir?” There was André, there to bring him back to life. “Sorry, I-”

“What did you mean by that? That you wished they were?”

“Nothing, it’s just-" Gabriel cut himself off, walking up to the picture and tracing Emilie's jaw with this thumb. "Whoever said that’s it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all never fell in love." He cleared his throat. "What of the more...mundane details of the union?"

André cleared his throat. "The Constitution we've drafted has been approved by the Royal Assembly. We can move into the conference committee to resolve any differences between ours and the constitution the Occitans have passed, but-"

"But?" André loosened his tie. "Your majesty, a number of MPs from the opposition along with half of the Members of the Occitan Parliment have sent me and Prime Minister Bustier a letter of protest. They feel this process is...undemocratic, and suggest both publishing the Constitution as soon as we've ironed it out, along with a popular referendum." Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "This process wasn't democratic to begin with."

"I know, Your Majesty, and-"

"What are the expected results?"

"Well, the Occitans would welcome the economic investment from us, but as I'm sure you're aware, that's not good enough. I can't sell that to the French."

"You're right. We're complete opposites. Occitans dislike the French, and we dislike the Occitans. That's practically a law of physics." Gabriel snarled. "This referendum could kill the deal entirely."

"Well, not so fast. Your children and the Occitan Royal Children; they're a symbol of what the united kingdom could be. If the people can consider all four children a united front, we may have something there."

Gabriel pushed up his glasses and cleared his throat. "I'll send Adrienne a message about today's meeting. This vacation they're on just got a lot more important."

* * *

 **[okay adri i get that youre cheating on luka but seriously]** Adrienne looked down at her phone and gave a small growl as she picked up her phone, rolling around in the sheets next to Marin as she grabbed it from the bedside table. In the meantime, Chloè sent her another text. **[him?]** Adrienne made a small show of grabbing the phone, flipping back on her back, and turning on her phone to shut Chloè up-lest she wake up Marin again. _Why is she my best friend, again_?

**[on second thought, why are you cheating on luka AT ALL]**

**[youve got a good thing with the guy and he gives amazing dick]**

**[your words not mine]**

**[Chloè please. i don't have the time or energy to deal with this right now.]** Adrienne let the phone lazily slip from her grasp as she snuggled back into the warm blankets of the bed, her phone falling somewhere near her pillow. She didn’t even stop to wonder why Chloè was asking that in the first place. Her eyes sleepily shut once more and she began to drift off back to sleep, hoping that her single text to Chloè would suffice, and she wouldn't see her phone light up again. Although Adrienne did have to wonder why Chloè would be up so late. Unless there was a party somewhere, Adrienne knew that Chloè would be tucked up into bed getting her beauty sleep.

 **[ugh girl are you actually sleeping wow way to go domestic]** Chloè didn't let up. **[were talking about this.]**

**[like, sooner or later get your sleep ik it must be a fuckin chore dealing with the little prince]**

Marin reached around and placed a hand on Adrienne's shoulder. "Izzat Luka?" Adrienne held back a disgruntled groan, especially when she felt Marin reach out to her. She reached out to quickly snatch her now buzzing phone back from the blankets. "No, it's someone else," she muttered, her voice taking on somewhat of a frustrated edge as she texted Chloè back. **[i'll get my sleep sooner rather than later. goodnight Chloè!]**

Marin sighed and pulled his hand away. "Sorry, I'll-do you want me back on the couch?”

"No, it's okay. Stay, please," She replied, much less frustrated this time. She cursed herself for directing her frustrations about Chloè towards him.

"Oh, uh-okay. Who was that?" Marin paused. "You don't have to answer that, sorry, I didn't mean to pry-"

She shook her head, deciding to answer somewhat vaguely. "It was a friend."

"Mmkay." Marin turned over, before going back to sleep. Adrienne could feel the waves of heat rippling from his body across the sheets, and wondered if this was it; friendly, genial, a warm, professional partnership-albeit one devoid of romance, let alone sex. She turned just enough to cast a questioning glance over her shoulder at Marin, gently shaking herself out of her thoughts as she rolled back over into the covers. Luckily, it seemed like Chloè had finally left her alone - at least for now - and she could get some proper sleep.

Marin turned over, looking at the back of Adrienne's head. He reached out with his hand to touch anything-the back of her neck, even a lock of her hair-but his hands turned away, only lightly brushing the outermost of the tawny locks. "Uh." He slowly drifted off to sleep, finally finding the strength to do so. 

* * *

Adrienne and Marin woke up to the sound of cheering and the pounding of feet. "Get up, losers! Good news!" Adrien ran onto the bed and sat down on the side of Adrienne, shoving his phone in her face. "Read it and weep." He grinned, pumping his fist in the air. "Mari, we DID it!" 

Adrienne's brows drew together as Adrien's phone was shoved into her face, Marin gently pushing her aside to join her. She tried to lean herself back in an attempt to distance herself from the phone to be able to read it. As her eyes scanned over the articles and photos Adrien had pulled up onto his phone her eyes widened with a realization of what had happened. "Oh..." she trailed off, looking to Marin with an almost-accidental flirty grin. "Seems as though our little scene on the beach made our relationship believable to the paparazzi."

Marin held up his fist at Adrienne, a look of elation on his face. "Come on. Come on, if people in France don't fist-bump, you people really are sad." Adrien and Marinette were already hi-fiving in the background. "Come on, give me a little sugar, Adrienne."

"Fine, fine." Adrienne gave a smile, feeling quite proud that their plan to trick the paparazzi had actually worked. _Because it_ was _just a trick, after all, and none of it was actually real, right?_ Her hand curled into a fist, and she held it up to slowly, gently bump into his.

"So, moving forward?" Adrien sat down on a loveseat across from their bed in Marin's cushy boudoir, Marinette slowly perching herself on his lap. "What's our next move, guys?" He looked up at Marinette as she finally plopped herself down. "Any ideas, princess?" He leaned up and kissed her.

Marinette returned the kiss with a soft giggle. "Well, the papers are clearly eating this up right now, which is exactly what we wanted." She explained, and then gave a small 'hm' of thought. "But as for moving forward, I'm not exactly sure what we should do next."

"I think I have a few ideas. I think we should celebrate. We go to Monaco-that’s drivable, right?” Marin gave a slow nod. “We got there, we hit up the biggest, ritziest, gaudiest, most public, most paparazzi-ridden nightclub, and we show them exactly how we do things." He pulled Marinette closer to him, kissing her again. "What d'you think about that?" Marinette excitedly ooh-ed as Adrien explained his plan, quickly bobbing her head into a nod before being kissed once more. "I think that's a perfect idea! It'll re-establish the relationship to the public, too." Adrienne nodded in agreement to the plan. "That should work...it would be nice to party, anyways. What do you think, Marin?"

"We'll have to act in love with each other. Madly so." Marin looked up at Adrienne. "How's your acting like?"

"I can act quite well when I want to," Adrienne replied with a small smirk. 

"But when you have to?" Marin's voice became heavier and wracked with tension-something only Marinette picked up on. Nevermind the fact that he had just woken up-he felt so tired.

Adrienne didn’t notice Marin's sudden change of tone. "That too. I'll be the best actress you've ever seen, don't worry!" Adrienne lightly waved her hand, as if to wave his worries away. "It'll be fine."

“Good. Well, I'm convinced. I can call around ahead of time-they'll make room in the line for a Crown Prince." Marin scoffed as he got out of bed. "I'm looking forward to it." He gave a small smile. "I'm gonna make breakfast. I'm guessing you two are a little homesick, so...how do you guys feel about waffles?"

Marinette threw her hands in the air and gave a cheer of "Yay, waffles!" as she tumbled out of Adrien’s lap, while Adrienne chuckled at her. "Waffles would be great."

"Marinette? You're with me. I don't trust these two around a kitchen." Marin grinned at the two blondes. "You two sit tight, mmkay?" He hopped out of bed and strode into the kitchen, Marinette around his heels. "So...eggs, flour, yeast...ugh, what am I forgetting?"

"Milk. Probably some vanilla extract too.”

“Right. You mind getting those two?”

“Nervous, are we?" Marinette questioned with a small smile, moving to grab the missing ingredients from Marin's list.

"Nervous about what? Some waffles?" Marin smirked at Marinette as he went into the spice rack, picking out the vanilla. "I'm going to add some cinnamon in there-yay or nay?"

"Oh, yes! Definitely add some cinnamon..." Marinette wandered back from the fridge, placing a carton of milk onto the counter.

“Great." Marin saw the smirk on Marinette face as she turned back to him. “What.”

“Oh, nothi-”

“ _What?_ ”

“Marin, you _know_ I wasn't talking about the waffles. Your mind is clearly on things other than breakfast."

"Haven't got the faintest idea what you’re talking about, sister dearest." Marin walked up and placed the cinnamon and vanilla next to each other as Marinette beat the eggs. "You'll have to walk me through that thought process of yours." 

* * *

"Well?" Adrien grinned, walking over to Adrienne and sitting next to her, grinning at her. "Am I finally getting the hang of this Public-Relations-Political-Mastermind-thing?" He looked down at Adrienne, waiting for her validation. "Throw me a bone here. If you hate the plan, now is the time to tell me."

"No, no!” Adrienne shook her head. “It's really a good plan. More publicity is a good thing for situations like this. It'll really make Marin and I look like a couple if we can show off a bit and act like we really do love one another. If all of that falls through, there’s always vodka. Something good will come out of it one way or another," said Adrienne, thinking out loud.

“'Act like?'" Adrien's heart quickened. _What if I was to_ -well, if he told Marin that he 'lied to' Adrienne about a ‘fake crush’ in case Marin found out-that might be an idea. His throat went dry. _Now or never._ "Bold of you to assume he's just acting a part."

Adrienne's brows rose. She shot a perplexed glance at her brother. She knew Marin was acting a little _too_ well for it to be entirely disingenuous. She had already assumed that every straight guy with a pulse found her attractive-and why shouldn’t they? Those two things together lead to a hunch that Marin really _did_ like her-but hearing it from Adrien definitely validated things. "Well, I-" she paused, the words coming to her mouth faster than they came to her head. Now, she wasn't sure what to say.

"Okay, let's say he was to...hypothetically like you. A lot of guys do." Adrien nudged Adrienne's side. "Make sure you let him down easily if he does, mmkay? I'm not sure if I could be able to hold Marinette back." Adrien started to chuckle. _Sure hope this doesn't backfire._

"I know, I know." Adrienne shifted at the nudges, turning away from her brother a little. "I'll be careful if that happens. I wouldn't want to upset her."

"Or me." Adrien pursed his lips. "Remember that conversation we had in front of the elevator in Toulouse? About Marin? Do you still feel the same way?"

"I, well-..." Adrienne paused, stammering somewhat. What should she tell him? "... I feel differently, to say the least."

"Huh." Adrien looked over at Adrienne. "You realize if you were to...well, Luka wouldn't know. Right?" 

* * *

“Batter’s done.” Marin looked into the bowl and nodded. “Great work.”

“Thanks!” Marinette remembered that Occitan royal children baking together was practically a constant. Between college and royal duties, headspace wasn’t always the best-and baking gave Marin and Marinette a certain cognitive dialysis. There was some unspoken clarity when ovens were preheated, batters were mixed, and trays were greased. 

"Okay.” Marin paused. “Oh, did we forget to plug in the waffle iron?" Marin's eyes widened as Marinette realized this was stress-baking for him, even more so than for her.

"I'll get it, you finish up the waffle batter." Marinette strolled over to the iron, moving to plug it into the closest outlet. _Now, to try and steer the conversation back onto the previous topic_. She stood back with her lips pursed and leaned against the adjacent counter, looking up at her brother, who was looking out of the window into the Promenade, and past that, the beach and the sea. "Marin, you know you can tell me anythi-"

“I love her.”

 _That was sudden_ -so sudden it must be true. "Marin?" She obviously knew-or at the very least, suspected-his feelings for Adrienne, especially considering how he acted, looked, even spoke with her. Marinette didn't expect him to confess so soon. "Marin?" More silence. Marinette realized that he didn't tell her before because he hadn't realized it himself. "You do?"

Marin started to shake, placing his hand on his heart and beginning to dig at it, as if to scratch something away. "Y-yeah. I think I do." His breathing became heavy and interrupted, and more hoarse.

_Did I just hear a hiccup?_

Marinette sucked in a calming breath, moving over to her brother's side. She wasn't entirely sure if he was crying or not, but she did know he needed comforting right now. It secretly scared her; a future king crying is disconcerting for anyone, but most of all for her. "It's okay, you know?" She murmured softly, a hand moving to gently rest on his back.

"Nuh-no! No, it's not, it's not, sorry, I-fuck, forget what I said, I just-"Marin's eyes welded themselves shut as it all came pouring down on him, like rain on a small country church in Aix-en-Provence. He balled up his hands into fists. "Oh, god. Oh, god, I really do, don't I?" Marin snapped Marinette into a hug. "You were right, weren’t you? Oh, you had to be right, oh my god, no..."

Marinette's arms wrapped around her brother, and she held him tightly, lightly patting him on the back while she gently shushed him to calm down. "It's okay, Marin. I promise it’s okay. These feelings are okay. I’m glad you admitted them." she gently assured him as she tried her hardest to comfort him. "This is bad. This is so, so, bad-" So far, her efforts had all came to naught.

Marin opened his eyes as he pulled away from the hug, looking at Marinette. They were white and dry when he closed them; they were now glassy and red. His breath started to truly hitch and hiccup with sobs as he separated from her, sitting down on the ground with his back leaning against the wall. "I-I don't know if I can-ugh." He pressed a palm to his eyes, trying to rub away the tears. "I'm not enough."

Marinette’s heart sank to the bottom of her stomach. She hated to see her brother upset like this. Perhaps getting these emotions out now would help things in the future. _Hopefully_. Marinette took a seat next to her brother on the ground and tried to offer some words of wisdom. "Marin, you know that's not true. You  _are_ enough, you _know_ that. You can do this, just believe in yours-"

"She-she said it! She said it herself. I'm not half of Luka, not half the  _man_ Luka is. And you probably know she's right, too." Marin's breaths became more constant, but heavy, bookended by wet coughing and sobs. "I-I don't wanna-" He fell into his hands, forcing out a low groan. "I'm not supposed to-I don't wanna get hurt." He looked up at Marinette. "It's never going to happen, Marinette. She said that huh-herself!"

Marinette groaned. _Was that what this is about?_ "Sure, she said all of those things before-”

“A week ago!”

“-But what if she changed her mind? When she said those things, she hardly knew you. Now that you two have spent some time together, you're visibly _much_ closer with one another, and there's that not-exactly-chaste kiss you guys had yesterday. Don't you think there's a possibility that she's feeling different now? A  _good_ kind of different?" Marinette questioned, her concerned gaze watching Marin.

"It's not going to help. She's putting on a _front_ , she's completely faking it-not every relationship is as perfect as you and Adrien. God, how could you not have seen that? She's not going to dump Luka! She's not going to dump him for me!" Marin put his head in his lap, giving a long, slow sigh. "The best we're going to be is friends. I just know it." He looked down at Marinette, his eyes pleading. It was that “I-need-a-favor” face. "Fine. If we’re going to do this, I need your help. I need to be better than Luka. Please, I don't care what I have to change, you-you _have_ to help me." He hiccuped. "Okay?"

Marinette shook her head, giving a small sigh as her voice hardened. "You need to trust me on this. Women's intuition, I just-I _know_ she feels differently towards you now. If it makes you feel better, we can try to plan something for tomorrow night, but don't start changing yourself into him to make Adrienne like you, mmkay?" Marinette gently nudged her brother's side before continuing, trying to lighten the mood. "Besides, I don't think I'd be able to handle two of him."

"Marinette." Marin wiped away his tears, still steadying his breath. "When we set out on this, we said we were going to do whatever it took to make Adrienne like me. Whatever her type is, I'll-I'll try. But you need to help me." He stood up, pursing his lips and extending his hand to Marinette. “Okay?”

Marinette tilted her head up to look at him, somewhat unsure, but she knew she needed to help her brother. "One condition.”

“Name it.”

“Marin, you need to remember who you are. Alright? I know that sounds cheesy, but really. She might divorce you or even die on you, but you will _always_ be my brother. Promise me, okay?" Marinette reached out to lightly grasp his hand, rising back to her feet.

Marin gave a weak smile. "We'll get to that bridge when we cross it. Okay?" He looked down at her, opening his arms for another hug. Marinette held her arms out, quickly hugging her brother once more. "Okay."


	12. We're Born Naked, and the Rest is Drag

Adrienne released a soft sigh as she closed her foundation and sat alone in one of the many powder rooms of the house, her hands nervously working their way through carefully curled locks of hair. The room opened up to the street so that Adrienne could hear the rushing of cars and the calling of seagulls and people. She could almost see the people crowded around outside, waiting for a glimpse of the royals.

Adrienne checked her watch, eventually deciding to leave before Marinette got there, but she didn’t need to-Marinette walked in right at that moment. “Hey! You ready?”

"Yeah, sure, any-oh, you look so _pretty_ !" Marinette's eyes were glittering as she scanned the other girl up and down. "The dress is kinda kitschy, but oh my _gosh_ ! You look _popping_."

Adrienne blinked a few times, her eyes wide with surprise from the other girl’s compliments. “Thank you, Marinette! I should say the same to you. I mean, you’re the designer here, so...”

"Oh, please, _this_ old thing? Come on, you look _gorgeous_ !" Marinette smirked. For all the prep they did over the last two days, Marin would surely get knocked off his socks when he saw what _Adrienne_ was wearing.

“No no, you look better! I mean-“ Adrienne motioned down to her current outfit, a form-fitting light grey dress that reached to her knees. It accentuated what little curves she had, and the low neckline of the dress certainly didn’t hurt. Even when paired with a set of gray flats, Adrienne’s outfit was certainly a head turner. “This outfit is great, sure, but yours is still amazing.”

Marinette gave a small giggle, looking down at her black short shorts and red short-sleeved crop top. "Wait until you see Marin's." She cocked her head. "You ready to go?"

Adrienne gave a slight smile at the mention of Marin, but her happiness was short lived and soon fizzled out. “Well...I was hoping to ask for some advice.”

"Yeah, I got that." Marinette cocked her head. "What advice?"

“Advice regarding...well, how, uh-how do I get Marin to hate me less?”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I mean, I haven’t seen him for the last two days, so I can only assume the worst. What did I do to him this time?” Marin insisted he had stayed away from Adrienne while he prepared himself. Marinette thought it was pissy of him at the time, but twenty-twenty hindsight? It made perfect sense. “Heh, uh...”

Adrienne perked up. “What? What’s up?” Marinette was on the verge of tears-tears of laughter. "Okay, so, uh-alright. Oh, boy, I-"

Adrienne blinked, now seeing Marinette's amused expression. "What's so funny? This is serious!"

"All I can say is that you really shouldn't jump to conclusions." Marinette stood up and walked out of the room, leading Adrienne to follow. "Sorry, Adrien's calling!"

"But Marinette!"

"Sorry, gotta go-oh! Hey, Marin!"

“Oh, hey, Marinette.” Marin had snapped. The first obvious change was the pomade in his hair, making Marin look taller and more slicked-back. He had picked jet-black skinny jeans over his typical hot-pink salmon shorts, and he'd donned a pair of top-shelf sneakers that must have set him back a pretty penny. He also ditched the typical short-sleeved button-up, instead going for a _Luka Couffaine 2018 World Tour_ t-shirt (all the more to tease Adrienne), topped with a leather jacket that hugged his arms, waist, and chest. “How are you-”

“Marin! Hey, I haven’t seen you-”

“-all day?” Marin winked at Adrienne. “You’ll just have to wait a little longer ‘til I get to you-”

"Adrienne?" Adrienne heard a voice from down the hall. It was Adrien (thank god) to the rescue. "We good? Everything okay?"

Adrienne quickly spun around on her heels, face to face with her brother. She looked somewhat flustered, her heart pulsing and throbbing in her throat. If she had to talk to Marin right after the conversation she had with Marinette...well. "Y-yeah, everything's fine! We're okay, mhm!" Adrienne quickly replied, partially forcing a smile.

"Okay, because...you look kinda off. Are you sure?"

"I'm absolutely positive! No need to worry about me, I'm good." Adrienne lightly rested her hand on her brother's shoulder. "I promise."

"Okay." Adrien looked at Marin. "Hey, uh-the 488 Pista Spider, right?" Marin nodded and gave a wide smirk. "Yeah, that's the one." Adrienne now got a full look at Marin, limiting herself to a quick scan of his outfit to prevent herself from staring. What he was wearing wasn’t his regular style in the slightest, but _boy_ did he pull it off well.

"Marin!" Marinette slapped his wrist and turned to Adrienne. "Okay, before you say anything, the Ferrari was a gift from some cousins on our mom's side. They live in Singapore, and they're crazy stupid rich. The car was a Christmas present. Cross my heart and hope to die, Marin did _not_ spend taxpayer money on Ferraris.” Marinette’s words snapped Adrienne back to reality once again, and her attention soon turned to the car sitting in the garage. "That must've been some Christmas present," Adrienne remarked.

"Either way, _Marinette_..." Marin pushed Marinette aside slightly, his fake voice in full force. He held out his hand, and Adrien handed him a set of car keys. "It's still mine." He walked up to Adrienne, slowly placing a hand on her hip and a kiss on her cheek, lightly coming onto his tippy-toes to do so. She could smell the Lavender-scented musk off his body, and the heat coming off of his chest. "And that's what matters, right?"

“Right.” _Oh. Boy._ Adrienne slowly exhaled, holding back a small shiver as she looked to Marin. Still, she could smile, and she could swoon, and she could bat her eyelids. What she couldn't do was slip up, not now.

She flipped back into her fake voice and gently placed a hand on his chest, grinning down at him with that same teasing smile she gave at that gala. "It's a nice car, Marin. Does it go fast?"

Marin gave a small nod, his cheeks flaring up. "Hmmm...zero to one twenty-four in eight seconds, so...yeah. Really fast. And it's got...six hundred-sixty horsepower, so I'd say it's got quite a bit of stamina.”

"Oh-oh."

"Yeah. There's a reason why the Ferrari logo's a stallion..." He bit his lip as he noticeably scanned Adrienne up and down before clearing his throat. “Now, we should get there by-" Marin checked his phone and looked back at the door to the garage door. "Five-thirty. If we make good time."

Adrien gave a loud, uncomfortable cough from behind his sister. "So. We gonna get this show on the road?”

* * *

Marin stared at the wheel, then at his chips, then back at the wheel, unsure of what to do next. He looked at Marinette expectantly. She had her eyes wandering around the elegant, ostentatious casino-obstinately to search for Adrienne and Adrien (and God knew where they were) but also to admire the design of the place. "Marinette?"

Marinette was jerked away from the elegant gold leaf and velvet carpeting of the room to see Marin looking down at the wheel. "Okay, so I’ve got two-fifty. Where should I put it? Come on, help me out here."

Marinette gave a soft hum, her eyes scanning over the numbers on the wheel. "You're really going to bet that much? What if you lose?" Marin raised an eyebrow at Marinette. "I have to make at least three hundred. Two hundred to pay Adrien back, and..." He shook his head, sighing at himself. If Adrienne were here, he’d be betting all five thousand euro-the maximum bet one could make. "Well, nevermind. Two-fifty on red even!" The croupier nodded with a “Very good, your highness,” and spun the wheel.

"What's going on?" Adrien put his hand on Marinette's shoulder as he approached the roulette table from behind, a gin and tonic in his hand. Marinette turned to look at Adrien with a wide grin on her face. "Oh, there you are! Marin's just trying to get lucky and win at roulette. What have you been up to? You and Adrienne disappeared for a hot sec."

"Yeah. I've been losing money, but at least I'm actually getting something for it." Adrien offered Marinette a sip of his gin and tonic. "You're going to need it. You're about to watch your brother lose two hundred fifty euro." Marinette accepted the drink and took a sip before her eyes focused on the wheel once again. "Hm, why don’t you care to make a bet?"

Meanwhile, Adrienne slowly made her way over to the table, stopping behind Marin. She hoped he hadn't noticed her walking up, and she'd lean in to whisper to him, "That's a hefty bet. Someone’s feeling lucky."

Marin slowly started to seize up before relaxing, remembering he'd need a cool head for the night. "Yeah. I’m feeling really lucky." The wheel began to slow down, and Marin's hands began to tense up. She extended a hand to lightly place it against one of his, nudging into him with her hip. “Sorry there’s no dice in this game for me to blow on.”

Marin looked down at his hand, then up at Adrienne as the wheel began to slowly grind down to a halt. ”I don’t think that’s going to be necessary-”

"Fourteen!" Marin closed the gap between him and Adrienne as the croupier called out the winning number, pumping his fist before bringing Adrienne in for a quick kiss. The kiss took her by surprise, but she returned it and even leaned _closer_ to him, letting herself relax. _No point in fighting it now_ , she thought, allowing herself to enjoy the moment before gently breaking them apart with a satisfied smirk.

"Woah, we aren't-" Marin was taken aback at the sudden denial. "You think you can just-"

“Yes, I think I can.” With a low growl, Marin suddenly pulled her deeper into him, pressing his lips against her. A slight 'mmph' came from Adrienne in response, a light blush steadily rising to her cheeks. She melted into the kiss and would've lost all senses had it not been for the competition between them, but she managed to hold herself back.

Marin maintained the kiss as he snapped his fingers at the croupier, who sighed and placed a single five-hundred euro chip into the palm of his hand. Marin slid the chip into his pocket as he slid away from Adrienne in earnest. He’d wanted to do that for weeks, and now he got the chance. In public, no less.

She gave a few dazed blinks as he slid away before steering herself back onto the right track. He was good, but she needed to be better. _Somehow_.

Marin placed another hand on her hip. “Hey. I'm going to cash this in and give you three hundred euro. Do you want to come with me?" Adrienne cast a glance over her shoulder to Adrien and Marinette before slowly nodding, checking her fingernails as if to appear bored. "Sure, why not?"

* * *

Before long, Adrienne found three hundred euro in cash land on the palm of her hand. She carefully flicked through the pile of cash before safely tucking it away with a “Thank you” to Marin. Marin responded with a wink. "Don't spend it all in one place." He looked across at Adrien and Marinette. "So, where're we going now? I'm all done. Adrien, you lose enough money?"

Adrien shook his head with a soft chuckle, gently wrapping an arm around Marinette's waist. "Hey, I didn't lose that much, did I? Besides, I still have the best treasure of all, right at my side." He leaned in to plant a kiss against Marinette's cheek.

Marin raised an eyebrow at Adrien with a decidedly bored and dismissive look. "Aw. That's cute." He looked up at Adrienne. "So where do you want to go? Cause I'm either hungry, thirsty," Marin flicked his eyes back up and down Adrienne as he ran his fingers through his well-slicked hair, "Or horny, I don't know which.”

Adrienne lightly tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she gazed to Marin, a flirty smile playing against her lips. "Well, whichever one it is, I'm sure we could do something about it. I'm a bit thirsty myself, but take me anywhere you'd like."

"So you wanna get fucked up?" Marin chirped at her, proposing it as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He felt quite winded thinking of his next move-as exhilarating as this was, it was slightly (very) draining for him.

Adrienne licked her lips. "Oh, I wouldn't be opposed to it. I'm sure after we all down a few drinks the fun will _really_ begin." Adrienne's attention flicked toward Marinette and Adrien as she asked, "What about you two?" Marinette cocked her head nervously, not saying anything. "We're here to party after all, aren't we?"

"Yeah, uh..." Adrien felt Marinette's elbow nudge into his side and shifted uncomfortably at Marin's posturing. He couldn't imagine acting that way around Marinette. "Yeah, we're here to party!" He looked from Marin to Marinette back to Marin. "Where at, though? We could get some more drinks elsewhere."

Marinette gave a hum of thought. "It would prevent us from trying to gamble the rest of our money away, too... did we pass any other clubs on the way over here?"

"I think there's one about a block from here." Marin stared right across at Adrien and Marinette, his voice biting and competitive. "Although I'm guessing you don't dance as well as I do?" Marinette feigned a dramatic gasp as if Marin had insulted their great ancestors. "Oh Marin, you _know_ I can dance better than you. I was the one who inherited dad's dance moves." Marinette replied, taunting with friendly sibling rivalry.

"Shame you didn't do anything with them. I mean, after all, who actually did dance in-" Marin cut himself off, his lips pursing. He'd run his mouth, and he couldn't have that.

Marinette gave a triumphant smirk. _Got him_. "Hm, what was that? Were you going to say something?"

"I...nevermind." Marin looked up at his sister, feeling a little defeated. It was necessary, he supposed-either that or bust the bubble he was carefully blowing up over the course of the night. "I guess we'll see about that soon, huh?"

"Oh, don't you worry. I'll definitely be challenging you to a dance-off later." Marin cleared his throat and nodded with an "mhm" as he tugged Adrienne along with him.

Adrien leaned into Marinette's ear as their twins walked away. "Didn't you say he danced in Lycee when we were in Arles? Why didn't he mention that?"

Marinette gave a nod, whispering back. "He did-he was extremely good at it, too.” She gave a loud groan. “What?”

“You know why he didn’t mention that? I don't think Adrienne would find him very manly if he mentioned that.”

"You mean, _he_ doesn't think that Adrienne would find him very manly. I mean, a major part of my job involves putting on makeup and obsessing about clothes, but I don’t think anyone finds me feminine."

She chuckled to herself, lightly pecking Adrien's cheek. "No, you're not feminine in the slightest. I suppose that would've been a better way to word it, though. He just wants to impress Adrienne. I get why he wouldn't want to let something like that out.”

“Yeah, but why?" Marinette spread her hands. “I don’t know, look at Luka! She obviously has a type, and this whole thing was about getting her to fall in love with Marin, because she obviously can’t get her head into it if her heart isn’t into it either!”

Adrien began shaking his head. This whole charade was a little messed up. "Did you object to this? Like, at all?"

"Oh! I tried, believe me. He _insisted_ he was willing to do whatever it took to make her like him in return, so..." she lightly motioned to Marin. "That's what happened."

"So that’s what that’s what that was all about? If he’s willing to go this far...I mean, he really must like her."

"Mhm.” There was a small pause. “Do you want to catch up to them outside before Marin gets run over by a speeding Lamborghini?”

"I'd rather that not happen. Let's hurry." Marinette gently slid her hand into Adrien's before hurrying outside. 

* * *

Marin stepped outside to a couple of people raising cameras and taking pictures of him and Adrienne. He bit his lip and slid his arm around Adrienne's waist, wondering what kind of number this would do on Luka. "Are you seeing them?"

Adrienne slid closer to Marin as she gave a relaxed, almost 'not-paying-attention' smile for any pictures that were going to be taken. "The paparazzi? How can I not? They're not hidden very well."

"I know. It’s almost as if they're giving us a heads up." He looked up at Adrienne as the two crossed the street. "Has Luka called you by now?"

Adrienne bit her lip, silent for a moment before finally giving Marin an answer. "No, I haven't heard from him in ages..."

"That's really weird." Marin shrugged. "I mean, isn't he supposed to be stealing you away from me?"

He looked across the street at Adrien and Marinette running out of the casino. "I mean, he obviously saw that article." Adrienne let her lips twitch, obviously not caring in the slightest. “Who knows? I'm sure he's probably giving me the silent treatment with the hopes that I'll come running back to him like a lost puppy." Adrienne replied with a shrug of her own.

"Yikes." Marin's hold on her began to squeeze as he pulled her closer to him. If that didn't solidify her as his in the public imagination, then nothing would. "And will you?”

Adrienne cast a sideways glance to Marin as she was tugged even closer, giving a small smirk. Their proximity allowed her to whisper her answer into his ear.

" _No._ "

 _I won._ Marin shivered at her answer, the enormity of that one word washing over him. He had won.

If she had said yes, she would be going back to him, he could retreat into his palace, wallow in his loveless marriage, and start exploring other options-options that would be more accepting of him being different. But he had won, and he didn't know what to do-save for keeping this elaborate act up for the next five to sixty years.

"As long as you're happy with that. Are you?" There was a small beat as Marin wracked his brain for the words-words which typically would be flowing, but not flowing so easily right now. Finally, he found the word-the perfect word. “I’m thrilled, Adrienne.” It was an understatement of the century, but it encapsulated all the feelings he felt-all those he could feel, however conflicting they may be.

“How come?”

“For...a whole bunch of reasons.” Adrienne wasn't sure if she could get him to admit that-so when he did, she felt a wave of satisfaction sweep over her. She closed the distance between them as if to prove her point and pressed a kiss to his cheek before back and carrying on with him, still smirking softly. "So, where's this club?"

"Just a few feet. I'm surprised there's not a big line." Marin let his arm drop from Adrienne's waist, opting to hold her hand instead. _Nothing can stop me_ , he thought. He wasn’t who he was afraid he was. "Not that there would be a line for us. It's good to be the king." _Nothing._

* * *

The door clicked shut, closing the two of them in their small yet elegant hotel room. Marin had booked the rooms last minute (“No, we’re all too drunk,” said Marinette when he’d offered to drive them back home,) and who was the poor sap at the concierge desk to tell him that he couldn’t have a pair of rooms typically booked months in advance? Marin turned around to face the bathroom and was ready to turn in when he heard a throat begin to clear and a pair of flats hit the floor a few feet away from him. “Aren’t you forgetting someone?”

Marin cleared his throat. "I..." He looked up at Adrienne, who had turned back to him from the other side of the room, a look of pure longing and hunger and straight _want_ on her face as she began to advance on him. "Now...what is THAT look for?"

Adrienne gazed to him as she moseyed her way over. "Does it matter?"

"Depends on what you're planning on doing with a look like that, I mean..." Marin backed up against the wall, feeling rather vulnerable. "You've got those hunter eyes going on, missy." He gave a small laugh.

"Well good, that's the plan." She replied as she moved closer, getting up close right up in front of him. Close and _very_ personal.

 **“** Oh, so that's what you're planning." Marin stood on his tippy-toes so that he looked at Adrienne's height-taller, even. "You gotta execute that plan, though. Aren't you?" His eyes were swimming-but he felt fine. _Great, even_.

"I will. I'm working on it." She leaned in, one of her hands moving to carefully rest against his chest, gently pushing him against the wall. She didn't move any closer than this-not yet, anyways. She could at least tease him for a minute or two longer.

"Uh...seriously, Adri-what-what are you doing?" Marin let his voice drop back down ( _shit shit shit it was up_ ) and raised an eyebrow. "D'you mind...maybe showing me?" He slid his hands up her back, to the zipper at the top of her dress. Adrienne leaned herself even closer to him with a playful smirk tugging at her lips, her face mere inches from his. She looked to him through her lashes, her voice dripping with tempting, sugary sweetness. "Go ahead, you do whatever you want."

Marin groaned, his face flushing-a mix of alcohol and embarrassment and horniness and _oh god why can't I just leave-_ "Uh." He pulled down the zipper, really unsure of what he was doing. "A-Adrienne? I, uh-"

Adrienne's brows faintly rose as she moved in on Marin, and she managed to barely recognize his change in attitude in her somewhat drunken state. "Yes? What's wrong? Are you okay, Marin?" She rambled off questions with a minimum amount of concern in her voice- _the guy was probably fine, right?_ She kept nibbling into his neck, exploring every little crevasse and bump on his body.

Marin bit his lip, wanting to stop it, but knowing if he let go now, he'd never hold back on. "No, please, it's fine. Sorry." He smiled. "Keep going." The zipper hit the bottom. "K-keep going." His words were slurring, and he found himself wanting to be anywhere else. But at the same time, he was _supposed_ to want this. It didn't matter if he actually did. “‘M fine.”

“Oh. Okay, tiger!” Adrienne's mind did a one-eighty, her concerns falling off of her mind like the dress from her body. She turned to look up at Marin with a smile on her face, pressing into him once again. She gently gripped onto his hand, giving a small squeeze of reassurance. "Do you want this?" Her gaze was still trained down to him, and he could not say no to that.

 _No_ , he wanted to say. _No, no, this is stupid, you're not up, this is such a bad idea_ \- "Yuh-yeah! Yeah." Marin's voice began to hitch. "Yeah."

“Fuckin’ course you do, I’m Adrienne Agreste.” Her gaze quickly took him in, looking him up and down. "I feel a bit out of place, need some help?" she murmured, a hand motioning to his clothing.

“Huh? What d’you mean?” She started to laugh, and he felt himself shrink, not knowing if she was laughing at him or with him. “What do we not have in common, Marin?”

“Oh! The clothing?” _Oh, thank god._ "Uh...sure." Marin nodded. "Sure, yeah." Her laughter began to subside as she licked her lips and placed her palm on Marin's thigh, guiding herself up to Marin’s belt. Marin’s head was going a mile a minute, with conflicting thoughts and feeling going through his head. This was going somewhere, somewhere he didn’t want, but he was _supposed_ to want, something he had worked hard for, but he didn’t want her to see it because it wasn’t up and _what if it wasn’t hard and what if it was too small and-_

” _Stop_! Stop!”

“Huh?”

“Stop, stop, I-” Marin paused, his hands balled into fists as he backed away from Adrienne, his hands protectively flying over his belt. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I’m sorry, but-” Adrienne cut herself off. “You did say yes.” Marin nodded as he sat down next to her. “I’m really drunk right now, and yes, I do want to make sweet, sweet love to you but I-” Marin’s voice began to choke as he held back tears. “I just wanna remember it, you know? When I’m not drunk or tired or-ugh.” He huddled to himself. “Sorry.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay! Shit, I-I’m sorry, do you wanna sleep with Adrien and Marinette?” Marin snorted with a smile. “Yeah, no. I’m not that much of a baby...” He stood up. “I’m going to take a shower, brush my teeth, and try not to slip and give myself brain damage. Mmkay?”

“Mmhm.” Adrienne hugged herself as Marin stood up and slowly moved over to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. She hugged herself, feeling more than a little cold despite the hot summer air.


	13. "It's over."

Adrienne awoke to a door opening. The light peeking out through the sheets belied the time of day-late morning, a suspicion confirmed by the alarm clock on her bedside table.

The second thing she noticed was the smell-a smell of hot, fresh, lavender-scented pastries, accented by notes of coffee (oh, thank god, coffee) and small hints of chocolate. "You awake?" Marin. He was already dressed in what he wore from last night, albeit also wearing a more tired look on his face. "I...wanted to apologize for last night. So I got us breakfast."

Adrienne slowly sat up in the bed, the blankets shifting but staying somewhat wrapped around her. She gave Marin a gentle, somewhat sleepy smile, and replied with a chuckle, "You didn't have to do that, y'know... but thank you."

"I wanted to." Marin sat down next to her, drawing her in for a hug. "I wanted to apologize, I mean. I meant what I said." Marin scratched the back of his head. "I'm flattered, and oh _god_ I want to...you know, but...I want to be able to remember it. You know?"

Adrienne tiredly leaned into the hug, an arm moving to wrap around his torso. "I don't believe anyone's ever denied me like that...though I do understand why you did. What happened last night was probably for the best. But thank you for your apology, Marin. I appreciate it."

“Hey.” Marin squeezed the hand wrapped around his chest. “The most beautiful woman in the world wants my dick. No way am I letting that go.”

“ _Ma_ rin!” Adrienne giggled a little as they stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like forever. Finally, unfortunately, Marin broke the silence. “Now, do you want to eat, or what? Croissants are great for hangovers."

"Absolutely." Adrienne perked up substantially at this, the mention of food tugging her out of her groggy state.  "Great!" Marin heard his phone buzz. Marinette. **[Mine and Adrien's room. Strategy meeting. NOW.]** Marin looked up sheepishly. "My sister’s being annoying. Can I trust you not to burn your tongue on the coffee?"

“Yeah, sure...” Her voice trailed off, before finding itself again. “What are your little meetings about, by the way? Can’t I sit in on one?” Marin held his breath. _If she knew even half of what was being said_. “Oh, uh. Yeah, it wouldn’t really be that interesting. Kind of boring, really.”

“Oh, okay.” Adrienne lightly waved a hand, signaling that she'd be fine, already bringing the cup of steaming coffee up to her lips, the though banished from her head. "I'll be fine. You go on ahead."

"Mmkay." Marin walked out of the room, leaving Adrienne alone with-

_Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt._

_Luka._

Adrienne felt her stomach drop as she read his name. _Greeeeat_. She picked her phone up from the bedside table and drew in a deep breath, tapping the 'answer' button before bringing the phone up to her ear. "... Hello?"

"Hey." His tone was matter-of-fact. He could be asking about the weather, or announcing that he was going out for some milk, what did she want at the supermarket? "What's up?" His voice was so deep, so present, so real-almost as if he was sitting in Marin's empty chair.

"Uh-" Adrienne hesitated for an answer. What should she even tell him? "Nothing really. What about you?"

"I'm doing good, just reading the news. Marin's getting rather handsy with you in this picture I'm seeing." Adrienne could feel the smirk on Luka's face.

Adrienne held back a soft gulp. Just play it cool, and it'll be okay. "Oh- yeah. You know how the media and paparazzi are, we have to make ourselves look believable."

"Uh-huh. That look you're giving him in this picture is rather believable." His voice dropped. "You love him, don't you. You know how I know?" Adrienne paused at the sudden accusation. When she finally replied, she did all she could to hide the soft quiver in her voice. "How's that?"

"Because that was the first look you gave me."

Adrienne fell silent besides a quiet ‘oh.’ What was she even supposed to say to that? She didn’t need to; Luka continued to talk in that infuriating matter-of-fact way. "Y'know, I have to know; was it something _I_ did? I thought I was a model boyfriend, Adrienne. I mean...I gotta be honest, people like you and people like me...we're supposed to get together, you know?"

No answer from Adrienne. "So what happened? 'Cause I know when you get back, I just _know_ you're not going to look at me like you look at him."

“Luka, I-...” Adrienne bit her lip and raked a hand through her hair, trying to come up with the right words to say. This was neither how she hoped nor planned her morning would go. “I’m sorry, Luka. A lot has happened, and... and things have changed. _I’ve_ changed.”

 **“** So it  _is_ you. You know, Jagged told me you were supposed to be cheating on him with me, not the other way around." She could already hear the sigh on the other end of the line. “So how _did_ you change, Adrienne? Because I was _perfect_ for you.”

Adrienne nibbled her lower lip as she fell silent on the other end of the phone. She didn’t expect to have to explain to Luka all the ways she had changed since they last saw one another, although she probably should have expected him to ask. Still, she didn’t know where to begin, or what to tell him. But tell him she had to, and tell him she did. “It’s a long, confusing, complicated story, Luka. Believe me, I’m not saying you’re a bad guy, you’re great. Perfect even. But, I’ve realized some things now, and...” Adrienne trailed off, wondering if she should continue with her sentence or not.

"Go ahead." There was a bit of a bite to Luka's voice-almost a hit, almost daring Adrienne to admit that she was lying and to take back what she just said. "Finish it. I deserve that much." She stopped, pulling back. She expected him to be satisfied with that answer, and so was shocked that he even cared to ask. Even more surprising to her was her answer to him. “No.”

“What?”

“No. You wouldn’t care, anyways.”

“Adrienne, can you make sense-?”

Adrienne began to see red. It didn’t matter if he cared or not; Luka was going to know exactly how she felt, for once. “I’m finally able to see how badly you’ve treated me now that I’m _away_ from you, and I don’t want to return to that,” Adrienne spat back, normal voice in full force, sounding quite pissed off in the moment as she could hear Luka’s noiseless surprise. "What? You picked him over me?"

 _A contest_ , Adrienne realized. _That's what he saw dating me as-a king-of-the-hill contest, and it's a contest he just lost_. "Adrienne, I-how did I mistreat you? Was I...was I abusive, did I hit you, did I ever yell at you..." Luka's voice cracked a little. "I'm lost here, Adri. What did I do wrong?"

“More like what _didn’t_ you do _right_ ?” Adrienne bit back an aggravated sigh to only angrily blow that bit-back air out of her nose. “Just because you’ve never physically or verbally abused me doesn’t mean you haven’t hurt me, Luka. You’ve never gone out of your way to do something special for me, to show you actually _care_ about me.”

“Adrienne-”

“Whenever we had an issue, you just-you just _placated_ me, _appeased_ me, instead of manning up and dealing with it! I’m starting to think our whole relationship was just a pissing match for you to show off to everyone else. It never actually had anything to do with _us_ , did it?”

All she heard on the other end of the line was silence. Silence from someone who realized that it was well and truly over. On the other end of the line, Luka put down the phone, putting her on mute for a whole minute. And then- "So this is it, huh?"

Adrienne waited as she was put on mute, almost hanging up the call before hearing Luka come through again. “I suppose it is.”

"Y'know..." Luka's voice trailed off. "If this is it, this is it. I'm not going to take you back if things sour between you and Marin. We're never, ever, _ever_ , getting back together. That being said..." Luka sighed.

“Oh god, this should be shitty-”

"You said I never did anything special for you, but does that mean Marin can?" His voice darkened. "Can _he_ placate you? Satisfy you?" Luka bit his lip on the other end of the line, the implication more than clear. "You know, if he's even grown a pair and tried."

Adrienne became silent once more, pausing for a minute. When she did speak, her voice was firm and confident. “I fully trust Marin to treat me right. He actually listens to me, you know that? Compared to how you treated me, I’d pick Marin any day. He’ll be the best man he can be, and whatever that means I’ll be happy with it.”

"'Whatever that means?' What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Luka smirked. "Doesn't answer my question in the slightest. Does. He. Satisfy you?"

“I don’t think that’s really any of your business, is it?” Adrienne shot back.

"Really all I need to know, isn't it?" Luka made a soft 'tsk' with his tongue. "See you around, Adrienne. Tell Marinette I said hi, mmkay?"

“Oh, I’m sure she’d love to hear from you.” Adrienne held the phone away a bit as she muttered that, unable to hold back a small smirk. _Yeah, Marinette’s going to hate that._ “Goodbye, Luka.”

Adrienne gave a small triumphant smirk as she turned off the phone, but the sense of smug triumph fell into a growing sense of desperation. She hung on his words. _Can Marin satisfy me? Does he even want to?_

She put her phone down, shaking her head and frowning as she looked out of the window. She took a deep breath in, allowing the lavender-scented croissant to penetrate the smell.

* * *

“Hey, what’s up?” Adrien said nothing, making the first thing that Marin heard upon walking inside Adrien and Marinette’s room the television. “Wait, you’re watching TV alrea-”

“Shhht!” Adrien put his finger to his lips as he sat down next to Marinette. “What’s going on?”

“Marin, watch the TV.” Marin kept his eyes on the TV. France 24 was on. Two podiums were on screen, with the French and Occitan coats of arms emblazoned on each of them. “What’s going on?”

The feed cut to a news anchor, who began speaking in French. _“Breaking news here at the border city of Bordeaux, where Prime Minister of Occitania Caline Bustier and French Prime Minister André Bourgeois plan to give a joint statement. We don’t know quite yet what the nature of-” The anchor turned around, cutting himself off at the sound of commotion. “Hang on, they’re just walking on, along with...the leaders of the opposition parties...let’s have a closer look in.”_

“It’s about the deal, isn’t it? The union? Somebody’s gone and messed it up.”

“No, let’s not jump to conclusions...” _Caline Bustier took the podium, adjusting the mic to fit her small stature. “Thank you all for joining us at this press conference. Over the last few_ weeks _since we’ve announced the personal union, we’ve been in conversations with the leaders of our opposing parties, who’ve voiced their objections to the new developments. We’ve come to the conclusion that this major change to our respective political systems, in_ reflection _of the many changes between and within the countries involved, is unfair and undemocratic to the people of both France and Occitania, and for this, we apologize.”_

_André cleared his throat. “Because of this, Prime Minister Bustier and I have come together to announce that we shall be holding a popular referendum in both our countries on the proposed union and proposed constitution in its current form.”_

“No!”

“Marin, calm down.”

“They fucked it up! The deal is off!” Marin ran his hands through his hair. “Why didn’t they tell us?” _André continued to speak, staring straight into the camera: “We’ll also be holding a new convention by the year’s end, where we’ll amend the constitution with the results of the referendum in mind. We’ll be i-”_ Marin turned the TV off. “Marin!”

“Don’t you see what's happening?” He was drawing a blank from both Adrien and Marinette. “Uhh-”

“Sorry, Marin.” Marin shook his head. “Okay, it’s pretty much a given that French people and Occitan people hate each other. They’re complete opposites in temperament, values-”

“That’s a little stereotypical, don't you think? I mean, I think-”

“That’s not the point! On the local level, people aren’t going to be voting for this. I mean, they’re not violently opposed to it, we haven’t seen any riots in Paris or Toulouse, but that the same time-people aren’t going to be down to share their entire country with a group of people with antithetical values and principles!” Marin put his head in his hands. “Why didn’t we think this through?” After what seemed like a while, Adrien cleared his throat and exchanged a look with Marin. “Well...”

“What?”

“Isn’t that what this trip is about?”

“What do you mean?” Adrien laughed and grinned. “Look. We’re living symbols of France and Occitania. If we look a certain way, then that reflects on the rest of the entire country. If French and Occitans together can look at their royal families together as one family, then they might see the other as a family as well.”

“Which means this trip just got more important than anything.” Marin sighed as he walked over to the window, squinting out at the late morning sun. “Well, it’s a good thing our move is working.”

“Our...move?”

“The front. You know, the thing I’ve been doing for the last twelve hours, and what I’m probably going to be doing for the rest of my life?” Marin turned around to see Marinette and Adrien. Marinette had taken no small amount of interest in her house slippers, and Adrien looked up at Marin, glaring at him with his nostrils flaring. “What?”

“Yeah, about that...” Marinette looked up at Marin, shaking her head with a crestfallen expression on her face. “I knew you should’ve just been yourself, Marin.”

"What do you mean? You-oh, right, you guys didn't know what happened.” Silence from both Adrien and Marinette. “She actually tried to go for it." Marin cocked a smirk and sat down on the armchair next to the TV, turning it off. "And I said no because I was stupid and drunk back then, but Adrien, that doesn't change the fact that your sister wants my-"

“Marin.” Marin paused, not noticing steam coming out of Adrien's ears. "Marinette, what is your _problem_? Are you mad because I was right? Is that the issue here?"

Marinette shook her head again, a little more rapidly this time. “I’m not mad Marin, I’m—I’m disappointed! Whether it worked or not, I wish you could’ve made her fall in love with the _real_ you.”

Marin paused. "I..." He started to shake, and it looked to Adrien like he might actually cry. Adrien was promptly proven wrong when Marin spontaneously began laughing, crying tears of laughter while falling out of the chair and pounding his fist on the ground. Marinette blinked a few times as she watched her brother sprawl out on the carpeted floor.

"Ah, ha, ha...what-" Marin's bleary eyes began to open, looking up at Marinette's 'disappointed' face. "Have you _met_ me, Marinette? Do you _know_ your brother _at all_?"

Marinette sputtered, fumbling for an answer. She had to struggle, even switching to Occitan for her response: “M-Marin, this isn’t funny! I'm serious!” Marin’s voice dropped, his face falling from farcical to enraged as he shot back in that same Occitan. "So am I! And I don't think you do!" Marin stood up. "Marinette, she has a type. People like Luka and Adrien-"

"Please leave me out of this-"

“Take that back!”

“You know it’s true! Look at her ex’s-”

“-don’t you ever compare Adrien to Luka! They’re _nothing_ alike! You don't-”

"...People who aren't like me! Do you know what they call me, Marinette? You've heard it. Tell me the word. Say it-"

“-and even if you aren’t like Luka, she should still love and value you for who you _really_ are!”

“But that's the thing, Marinette! She won't. She _never_ will!"

Adrien looked between the two arguing Dupains, hoping to get a word in. The tense moment between them gave him his opportunity. “You know, uh...” Both Occitans snapped at him with fire in their eyes. “Whatever you're thinking about yourself, only you actually think that," Adrien quickly added in when he had the chance. "And she certainly doesn't.”

"Uh..." Marin narrowed his eyes. "And how would you know?"

"He's her brother, numbnuts."

"It's still a fair question." Adrien felt his hands fly to his lips. “Well...” He stopped to decide on how to word his next sentence. “Mari’s right, first off. Adrienne’s my sister, so I know almost everything there is to know about her, and...she’d love anyone if she fell for them hard enough, I’m sure. Including you, Marin.”

"Yeah, key term, ‘fell for.’ In other news, water is dry, and this referendum will pass unanimously."

"Marin."

"What?"

"Even if I'm completely wrong, and I don't know her at all...I know myself. Sit down." Marin uncomfortably sat down between Adrien and Marinette as Adrien went on. "Whatever you feel about yourself, Marin...I'm sure you're the only one who does."

"Yeah." Marinette put a hand on her brother's back. "Don't beat yourself up, mmkay?"

Marin sighed while standing up, their words burrowing and making a home into his brain. "I need to go back to her." He stood up and walked over to the door. "Uh...meet you in the lobby in...two hours?"

Marinette quirked a brow. “Two hours? What’re you planning on doing? Wait— don’t answer that.”

Marin groaned. “I’m going to eat breakfast with my fianceé and then pack.” He paused. “Numbnuts.” Adrien closed his eyes as Marin opened the door and winced as Marin lightly slammed it.

* * *

Marin slowly moved over to back to his room, where he found Adrienne with a hard look on her face. “Hey.” He walked over to her and saw the phone in her hand. _Couldn’t be._ He took her hands and sat down next to her. “What’s up?”

“Luka.”

“What about Luka?”

“It’s over.” Marin went to embrace her into a hug. His heart was doing jumping jacks, and he wasn't quite sure why. Adrienne's face was a stone, staring ahead into Marin's eyes. "How do you feel, does it feel bad?"

Her head held firm, neither nodding nor shaking. "Yes and no."

"Huh?"

"Marin-"

"Yes?"

"Marin, it's over and I don't feel a thing."


	14. In which the 'true selves' trope is justified, for once

Marinette could be seen emerging from Hotel De Paris Monte-Carlo, nearly sprinting her way over to the Ferrari parked in the lot. With an eager hop in her step as she approached, Marinette watched with a bright grin while the lights of the vehicle flickered as she pressed a button on the keys, signaling an unlocked door. As she approached the car, Marinette suddenly resembled a kid in a candy store. "Jeez, I can't believe Marin's actually letting me drive this thing," Marinette murmured to herself as she peered into the driver’s seat.

"I think the only reason is because you're mad at him." Adrien put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze and pressing a kiss to the back of her cheek before he went into the passenger seat. "Try not to kill us all, mmkay?"

Marinette gave a light chuckle, replying as she hopped into the driver seat, "C'mon, we'll be _fiiiiine_ . I'm not _that_ bad of a driver!" She was so excited, she didn't have the time or energy to even think about how upset she was with Marin. Nothing was going to spoil this moment for her.

"Too bad I can't exactly sit on your lap." Adrien leaned in and kissed Marinette's cheek as she cockily put her hands on the wheel, slamming the door shut behind her. "What d'you wanna do once we get back? I think we have about two weeks left in Nice." Adrien took out his phone to text his sister. **[adri where r u]**

"That _is_ too bad; I'm sure I'd enjoy it." Marinette shot Adrien a wink, her attention turning to her reflection in the rearview mirror soon after. "As for when we get back...I'm not sure! There's a lot to do in Nice; we could always see a show, go out for dinner; oh, there's a big Mattise museum..." Marinette trailed off as she listed ideas, brushing a few stray strands of her bangs out of her eyes. Adrienne texted back, **[just got into the lobby]**

"Yeah, I think I'd enjoy you on _my_ lap a little more..." Adrien soon became distracted from flirting with his fianceé as he sighed at his phone, attracting Marinette's attention. "Sorry, uh-" He looked down to text. **[we're outside]**

He turned to Marinette. "Honk the horn, they’re still inside."

"Oh, right!" Marinette gave a few short beeps of the horn, followed by one final longer beep. "D'you think they heard that?" Marinette asked as she leaned over toward Adrien, giving a playful grin. Adrien looked out to see Adrienne soon exited the building, side by side with Marin. “Yep."

Marinette readjusted the mirror as Marin opened the door for his fianceé. “Sorry, Marinette! We're here."

"No problem! So long as you mind telling me why you guys were late."

Adrien shot his sister a wink, and Adrienne wondered exactly what was said between the three of them. Now that I think of it... "Good morning, sleeping beauty! Did you rest up?"

Adrienne quirked a brow at Marinette as she got into the vehicle. "No reason in particular, I suppose. It just took some extra time to get ready this morning." Adrienne explained, adding, "I slept fine. Wait...why do you ask?"

"Oh. Okay." Adrien shrugged as he sat down as he looked over to Marinette with an excited grin on his face. "Ready to ignore a few road signs?" He leaned in and whispered something into her ear, nudging her conspiratorially while flashing Marin a nasty look.

“Uh...what’s going on?”

“Nothing, Marin, nothing! Don’t be so nervous all the time.”

Marinette giggled, starting the car. "Oh, definitely." She buckled her seatbelt before also turning to give Marin and Adrienne an excitedly-mischievous grin. "You two ready?"

"Uhhhh..." Marin's voice trailed off before clearing itself. "Yeah, hell yeah! Definitely. Show me what you _gOT_!" Marin's hand flew to Adrienne's thigh as Marinette sped out of the lot into the street. "Er, shouldn't there be more traffic?"

Adrienne's cheeks turned a rosy pink at the sudden sense of pressure and warmth. "Maybe they heard about me driving today, and decided to stay off the roads so I could have some fun," Marinette joked as she edged her foot down onto the gas pedal as they sped down the street in the least-dangerous-but-still-somewhat-dangerous way as possible.

Marin's other hand flew to his mouth as he looked out of the window to try to delay the sudden lurch of motion sickness. Adrien rolled down the windows, giving a small laugh as they flew into the tunnels separating Monaco and the rest of Occitania, being seemingly the only car driving on the highway to Nice.

Marinette's gaze briefly flicked up to the rearview mirror once more to look at her brother. "C'mon Marin, this is fun!" Marinette sped up the car even more. _Revenge is sweet_.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Marin removed his hand from his mouth. His motion sickness had subsided, but his face was still a hot pink. Adrien looked back. "Adrienne, how're you holding up? I see you're getting comfy." He gave her a small wink.

Adrienne met her brother's gaze with her famous _I-hate-you_ look, and she hoped her cheeks wouldn't betray her and turn even redder than they already were. "I'm alright, this is nice — Marinette, you-er. You drive very well," Adrienne commented with full honesty, trying to change the subject. 

"Thank you!" Marinette chirped as she looked ahead at the road. Adrien turned to Marin. "Marin, how are you holding up?"

Marin shot Adrien a thumbs up with his free hand, his other still resting against Adrienne's thigh. "Oh, I'm fine. You don't think I'm that much of a wuss, do you?" Adrienne also looked to her brother, a small smile tugging at her lips as she listened to the two converse.

"Mmmkay! Tell us if you need Marinette to slow down." Adrien turned back to the front as Marinette floored it again. Marin bit his lip before being distracted by the road signs. "How much longer do we have to go?"

"We should be there soon, maybe twenty minutes. Fifteen if we're lucky and I decide to go a little faster than what's legally allowed."

"Oh, ni-wait, legally allowed?"

Marinette blinked. "Mhm? The speed limit?"

"You're going...faster than the speed limit." Marin froze. He went fast on the way there-but not to the point where they were breaking the law. Marinette nonchalantly shrugged, masking the immense satisfaction she was getting from torturing Marin. "Exactly, but everyone does. So this is _technically_ legal." Marin suddenly looked up at his fianceé, hoping she'd say what he was thinking. "What about you, Adri, are you feeling some, uh-motion sickness?"

Adrienne's gaze turned to Marin. "Oh, uh- no? I've gotten used to it now; I think I'm alright...?" She trailed off, still looking to him. Was he expecting her to say something else?

"Oh, hm. Okay!" Marin looked out the window, having acclimated to Marinette's reckless driving himself, but still keeping his hand on Adrienne's thigh.

Adrienne nodded, watching him for a moment more before also looking out her window. Her hand slid down to gently rest against his (the one on her thigh). It wasn't like she didn't feel safe when Marinette drove, but having the contact with Marin was a comfort.

Marin looked up and gently leaned against Adrienne. "Hey, last night was fun, despite...you know."

Adrienne looked back over to Marin, her smile unfaltering. "It was, wasn't it?"

Marin smirked. "You know, if you want to take another shot tonight..." Adrien's eyes widened.

“Wha-” Adrienne began to sputter her face in her elbow as Marin’s idea had sent her into a coughing fit. When she finally revealed her face, it was quite red - both from the coughing and the embarrassment she was now in. "I- uh..." Adrienne paused. She didn't exactly want to say anything in front of Adrien. Or rather, _behind_ Adrien.

Adrien, for his part, gave Marinette an awkward look before remembering that Adrienne didn't know that _they_ knew what Marin meant. He sighed, realizing that he couldn’t play the protective brother and that Adrienne was on her own.

"Well..." In the meantime, Adrienne's voice had dropped to a low whisper, and she hoped that would mean only Marin could hear her. She leaned in and gave his ear a light nibble, something to which he gave a small wavering whine. "I suppose we'll have to see how the night goes, hm, tiger?"

* * *

Adrienne giggled as Marin closed the door behind both of them, leaving Adrien and Marinette alone in the car and the garage. "So...do you want to be the one to tell him to tone it down?"

Marinette gave an awkward chuckle. "Well, I don't really _want_ to be the one to tell him, but I think he would take it better coming from me than you since I'm his sister." Adrien pursed his lips. "But he's not listening to you at this point, right?" Marinette gained a sudden interest in her lap. "... Also true, yes."

Adrien shrugged. "I'm sorry, but...it seems like that's the case. Maybe I should...I dunno." Adrien closed his eyes. "I wish I knew what he was going through." He looked at Marinette with a sad longing in his eyes. "If only it were as easy as when it happened to us."

Marinette sighed, gazing back up to him. Her eyes mirrored his. "I know... but, I guess some people just aren't as lucky as we are." Marinette reached out to slip her hand into his. "They'll get there."

"What is he going through? Do you know?"

"I wish I could say I did, too. I'm his sister. I _should_ know what's going on in his head, but," she held out her voice, thinking about an answer. “For the first time...” Marinette shook her head, finally defeated. "I don't know." She gave a small, sad, smile as she turned to look up at him. "The one thing I _do_ know is that he loves her. A lot."

Adrien slowly nodded. "Anything you want me to tell him?"

"I've tried to tell him a few things, but... he's never listened. I don't know if it'll be different coming from you, but I guess it's worth a shot? Maybe two guys talking about feelings has more meaning? I guess you should tell him to tone it down for sure, and...”

Marinette began to shake. She looked down from Adrien’s eyes to her hands, which she had pulled away from the wheel to start wringing. “I just...Marin really is my best friend, Adrien. More than you, more than Alya. He’s kind and understanding, and he always listens to whenever I have a problem, and there’s no real reason why your sister would reject him, and she’d be _stupid_ to do it. Tell him that I miss my best friend and that I’ll do anything to get him back.” She looked up at Adrien. “You will tell him that, won’t you?”

Adrien went silent, stunned from the sudden burst of emotions from Marinette. He turned in his seat to face her while reaching out. He tried to grasp her hands and give her a reassuring smile. "Hey, it'll be okay. I'll tell him, and you'll get him back. I promise, Mari." He brought one of her hands to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her hand.

She looked up at him from her hand, before wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you so much." She closed her eyes and kissed Adrien on the cheek. "I love you so much." His arms wrapped around her, and he held her close, his face pressed into her hair. "I love you too, Marinette. More than anything."

Marinette pulled away from him, an almost confident smile on her face. "Go get him." She nodded. _Marin's really got it coming, now._

Adrien carefully shut the door of the vehicle, walking in the direction Marin and Adrienne went. "Hey." As Adrien walked into the kitchen, he whipped around to see Marin leaning against the kitchen counter, his shirt off as he sipped from what Adrien assumed to be coffee with the widest smirk on his face. "What's up? You look mad."

"I'm not mad, just want to talk to you." Adrien approached, stopping in front of Marin.

"In a very. Mad way." Marin pushed the coffee cup into Adrien. "Coffee?"

"Again, I'm not mad - but we need to have a serious talk." Adrien gently nudged the cup of coffee away. "I'm fine, thanks."

"You seem pretty mad, are you sure about that?" Marin took a long sip of his drink before finally lowering it to the counter. "Okay. Shoot."

"I'd greatly appreciate if you toned down the- er... 'suggestive' conversations with Adrienne. At least while I'm around." Adrien started to explain, leaning himself back on the countertop.

"She doesn't seem to mi-" Marin's eyes narrowed. "Wait. Is this you talking, or Marinette?"

"Oh, this is all me. It doesn't really matter to me if she minds or not. It's probably good that she doesn't, considering that's what we've been working towards. But-- I'd rather _not_ know or hear about my sister's romantic life."

"Hey, I tolerated it when you were getting cozy with my sister." Marin shrugged defensively. "So I suggest you get used to it. I’m not going to get pushed around by anyone anymore."

“When have you ever been-” Adrien was interrupted by another of Marin shoving the mug into his face. "This is really some good coffee, even without the cream and sugar-"

"Marinette misses you."

"Sorry, what?"

Adrien’s gaze fell away from Marin. "She misses you. Who you used to be."

Marin snorted. "Well, _I_ don't. Tell me; does she not like me being the confident, secure one?"

Adrien shook his head. "You don't understand, Marin. I'm sure she loves you being confident in yourself, because god, you _should_ be, but...you should be confident as the person you _really_ are. That's who she misses.”

“You mean-”

“She misses the brother who listened to her problems and helped pick her back up when she was down."

“Oh, so she wants me to be the same guy I was when I first met Adrienne, and given all that's happened-Adrien, she broke up with Luka!-given all that's happened, I really think that that move would be really ill-advised." Marin snorted as he turned around and put the mug into the sink. "And anyway, I don't understand. Can't I be both?”

"She broke up with Luka?"

"Yeah. This morning. Over the phone." Marin smirked at Adrien's speechless look. "Still didn't answer my question."

"What question?"

"Can't I be bo-"

Adrien laughed. "Yeah, because that would work out. Marinette wants to confide in her _brother_ , not Luka 2.0."

Marin stiffened. "Let's really not bring up Luka in relation to Marinette, huh?" He sighed. "And I hate to say it, but I really think that Adrienne kind of _wants_ Luka 2.0."

"Adrienne broke up with Luka, didn't she? There's a reason behind that. I'm sure she wouldn't want to date a copy of her ex."

"Yeah, well...that's her type. She's proven that. And despite what that fancy piece of paper says, I'm _not_ entitled to her, so if I have to change myself to get her approval, I'm fine with that." His voice slowed down, and his eyes grew softer. “Adrien, do you think I love her so little that I wouldn’t change every little bit of myself just for her?”

Adrien exhaled a steadying breath, now realizing that he wasn't getting through to Marin. Either that, or Marin was ignoring the advice. "No, I know you love her. You love her a _lot_ , and everyone can see that. But don’t...change yourself out of love. That's not loving someone. Do you think I changed for Marinette?"

"No, no-"

"Do you think _she_ changed for _me_?"

"No!" Marin snapped. "Because she's perfect! And you're perfect, look at you! You're tall, handsome, graceful, manly; you're exactly what _every_ prince looks like! You're the picture in the dictionary for 'prince'! Do you think about any situation other than the one you have?" Marin began to hug himself, finding an apparent interest in his overpriced sneakers. Adrien took a few steps closer to Marin, his hand reaching out to rest on his shoulder. "Marin, you're a fine prince. And for the record, none of us are perfect, contrary to popular belief. Not even me."

"Whatever." Marin sighed and placed his hand on Adrien's-not moving it away, but not clutching it close to him either. "Even if you’re not perfect, you don’t need to be, because you're not the one who has to be _king_. Don't you know how easy you two have it?" Marin turned around, facing the sink before raising his head with an idea. "You’re not telling Adrienne any of this. Maybe we can work something out. How about-" Marin paused, stopping himself as the gears turned in his head. "How about I fake it in front of Adrienne and the public, but I can save myself just for her. Do you think she'd like that?"

"Hm... you're meaning 'save yourself' as in your _true_ self? For her?" Adrien questioned, mulling over the idea in his mind. _I'm not sure if that would make Marinette happy..._

"See? Great! Now, I have to get on with trying to get your sister to-" Marin paused, trailing off at Adrien's silence. "Hello? You...okay?" Adrien shook his head, pulling himself out of his thoughts. "Sorry, got caught up in my thoughts for a second. I think Adrienne would like that, and...I think Marinette would understand."

"See?" Marin extended his arms again to offer Adrien a hug. His lips curled into a smile that, for a moment, reminded Adrien of his father. "I can be anything I want, Adrien. And that's really all that matters."

Adrien held his arms out to awkwardly accept Marin's hug. "Right. Just... remember Marinette's words, will you? She just wants to help.”

“Marin, honey, come back to...” A voice wafted from Marin’s room before freezing at the scene in front of it. “Bed.” Adrienne’s eyebrows slightly raised. "Er... what're you two doing?"

"Adrienne! Hey!" Marin and Adrien separated. "We just came to a new..." They traded an awkward look, with Adrien's of furrowed brow and Marin's of relaxed smugness. "A new understanding."

"...I can tell. I-you know, I won't even ask." She held her hands up at chest height, giving a look of 'leave me out of this' as she passed the two by. “No, we’re not trying to-”

“Really. It’s fine.” Adrienne tried to quickly change the subject. "Where's Marinette? Isn’t she part of this...new understanding?" Marin and Adrien exchanged a look. “No.”

“At least, not yet.”

“Oh. Where is she?”

“Why would we know?”

Adrienne raised an eyebrow. “I mean, you three always happen to be together with your weird meetings. Don’t think I haven’t noticed. Now, is she okay?”

"Y...yeah." Adrien and Marin shared a look. Adrien cleared his throat. "Yeah, she's uh-she's fine."

Adrienne eyed her brother suspiciously. "You stuttered. What's going on?"

"Adrienne. She's fine. She's right there, look." Marinette had indeed exited the garage with a steely look on her face, looking straight ahead at Marin. "She's fine, see?"

Marin's throat began to dry. "Marinette?"

“She doesn't look... fine." Adrienne's voice dropped, and she leaned in to lowly whisper to her brother, "Maybe you should talk to her...?"

"Sure. Sure!" Adrien took Marinette by the shoulder. Marin turned to Adrienne and slid his hand into her back pocket with a smirk on his face. "I'm sorry about that. Now, shall we?"

Adrien led Marinette to their bedroom, closing the door behind him. "Hey, hey, we've got a solution. Do you want to hear it, or don't you? It's really up to you."

Marinette breathed out a sigh at the mention of another 'solution,' and she sat herself down on the bed. "What's Marin trying now?"

"He's going to fake it...JUST for Adrienne. And the rest of the world. I mean...isn't that what being a royal is all about?" Silence from Marinette. "Come on, Marinette, this is objectively a good thing for us. I'm happy, you're happy, Adrienne's happy, Marin is a slightly less agitated ball of nerves...this is a win-win."

Marinette sat back into the bed, thinking for a long time. Neither of them heard the door open. "I guess if this is the best we're going to get, then we have to accept it." Marinette said, rubbing her arm before continuing, "I can _try_ to be happy with it..."

"What's wrong?" Adrien sat next to her with a lopsided frown. "This is all for the best. I'm really sorry it has to come to this." A high, clear, feminine voice laced with poisoned honey shot inside: "We're sorry it has to come to what, now?"

"Adrienne, don't-"

"Pipe it, Marin. What exactly is a win-win?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is the “True Selves” trope justified this time? Tell me in the comments-I need my discourse!


	15. The Denoument

Adrien dropped his jaw. Marinette silently sat on the bed, her expression mirroring that of a deer caught in headlights. _This wasn't supposed to happen._ What was she supposed to tell Adrienne? "U-uh-- Adrienne! Hi, ehm... how long have you been standing there?"

“Long enough to know that you and Adrien are planning something." Adrienne calmly walked over and sat down across from Adrien and Marinette, a smile on her face. "But it's not like I had to be there that long." Adrienne paused. "For one, I know that the stunt you pulled in Aix wasn't just a harmless prank, _nor_ was it an isolated incident. Really now, how stupid do you think I am?"

Marinette tensely sat beside Adrien, her mind firing at a mile a minute as she tried to think of something plausible to tell Adrienne. "Well- of course you're not stupid! Not at all. Adrien and I, we just..." Marinette motioned between herself and Adrien, willing the right words to come out of her mouth. "We just wanted to try and help you two."

"Help. Us. Two." Adrienne narrowed her eyes. "You mean, going behind our backs and essentially playing cupid against our wills?"

“Adrienne, we-”

“Adrien. I knew. I just wanted to hear it from you two first, so I knew I wasn’t being stupid.”

“You knew?” Marinette’s voice was almost a whisper.

“Uh...the opera, the hike, _every part of our trip_ -really now, you couldn’t have been more obvious if you tried. The only reason I went along with it was because it would have been media suicide to make a big deal out of it.” She looked up at Marin. "I'm so sorry about my brother." Marin nodded, glaring at Marinette to stay silent.

Marinette rapidly shook her head, trying to explain the situation without giving too much away or getting anyone else into further trouble. "We weren't forcing you two to do anything, you both still have free will. The two of us just figured we should, y'know, show you two how happy you really _could_ be together... if you gave it a chance."

"Mmm...hm. So the gala scared the both of you, and you decided to send us off on a trip in hopes that it would...what? Make us look like we were together?" She looked at Adrien. "Did I miss anything?"

Marinette fell silent at that, biting her lower lip. She decided to let Adrien handle this- which, he tried. "Adrienne, it's not that bad. We hoped the trip would let you get to know each other better and that it might make you two less distant with one another. It worked, didn't it?"

"Yes. A little too well." Adrienne held her breath. "Luka and I have broken up."

"I know."

"He's made it clear we're not getting back together. I hope the both of you are happy." To Adrien, it was one thing to hear Marin brag about it, but it was another thing entirely to hear Adrienne say it. "Marinette, I do hope this trip wasn't revenge for the way he treated you..." Adrienne's syrupy-sweet voice had a bit of bite in it as it faded away.

Marinette's brows raised with surprise as Adrienne hinted toward her past relationship with Luka. "Absolutely not! I could care less about him; he's a part of my past." Marinette fought back a shudder, but her expression showed her disgust easily.

"Good. Then I was only used towards one goal, I assume." Adrien cleared his throat, walking over to Adrienne and placing his hand on hers. "Adrienne, Marin, we were only trying to make sure you did the right thing by both our countries. Especially with this referendum coming up, we needed to have you guys co-operate in ways you weren't willing to at first. I'm sorry we were underhand in doing it." He shifted an eye towards Marinette, giving her a look.

Marinette rose to her feet as well, trying to wipe her previous expression off of her face. She made her way over to Marin, following Adrien's gesture by placing her hand onto Marin's. "Exactly. As Adrien said, we were trying to do what was best, and we didn't mean to harm the two of you in the process."

Marin smiled, his eyes glinting into Marinette's. "That's really alright, Marinette. I’m glad you did it, in a way." He brought her in for a hug. "Bold of you to assume I wouldn't be giving her a chance, though." Adrien's eyes widened. _Ixnay, Marin, ixnay!_ Marin pulled away, his smile giving way to his trademark smug grin. "C'mon, Mari, she's a supermodel. Let's be honest, here. How high do you think my standards are?”

Marinette let her arms wrap around her brother to give him that hug, but she quickly reeled back at his next statement. "What? No, I-!" Marinette was speechless as she looked to her brother. She couldn't exactly say anything without offending someone. Somehow.

Adrien bit his tongue, looking at Adrienne. Anything could happen. "Wait, was..." Marin paused. "Was it something I said?"

"Kind of?" Marinette replied quietly in a feeble attempt to quickly fixed the situation that he had just put them in.

Adrien began to sweat, moving deeper away from the room. _Adrienne, if you laugh this off right now, I'm buying you all the Ladureé macaroons you want._ Sure enough, she paused with a look of fading amusement giving way to confusion on her face, looking between the Dupains. "Wait, what's going on? I mean...yeah. I'm Adrienne Agreste. He’d be stupid to reject me, that’s the _joke_. Is...everything okay?" Another second of awkward silence. “Gosh, Marinette, I’m not offended-”

“You didn’t get the joke.”

“Marinette-”

“It’s not about _Marin’s_ standards.” Marinette snapped and looked up at her sister-in-law. “It’s about yours.”

“Marinette?”

“He wants to be ‘perfect’ for you, whatever that means. Never mind if that’s who he really is." She looked to Marin. “Or isn’t.”

"Wait...uh-what's going on? What do you mean by that?" Marin's eyes shrunk as he walked forward, his heart going a million miles an hour. "Marinette, you're making a huge mistake. Can we talk about this away from here?"

Marinette shook her head, turning to give Marin a knowing look. "She deserves the truth, Marin. Can't you at least give her that?"

"You’re going to wipe away _everything_ we have built here, all our progress!"

"Marinette, what's going on? Did Marin..." Adrienne's voice dried, and Marin felt something he wasn't supposed to feel. Not ever. "Him too?" She looked to Marinette. Adrien took this moment to slink out of the room, leaving Marinette alone with the couple.

Marinette blew out a soft sigh as she nodded in agreement to Adrienne's question. She was starting to think this was a bad idea, but the truth had to come out at some point. "Yes."

"Yes _what?"_

"Adrienne, it was his idea in the first place.”

“Marin? Is this true?” Marin scratched the back of his neck. He didn’t need to say anything; he was beyond lying at this point. One could feel the heartbeats in the room-one still beating hard and steady, one going a million miles an hour, and one that was just about to stop. Finally, Marin found his voice: “You didn’t...you didn’t cooperate.”

“What the _fuck_ is that supposed to mean?”

“The gala-“

“Oh, was that what it was about? The gala? Did you feel stood up? Was I supposed to fall into your arms at first sight, was that what I was supposed to-?”

“You were supposed to have us look like a united front to seven billion people, and you _failed!_ ”

“Oh, that’s rich to hear you talk about failures-“

“ _Adrienne!”_ Marinette’s shriek retreated into the same whisper she had earlier. “We're sorry, Adrienne. We didn't mean any harm. We really wanted to make things work out between the two of you.”

"I...I." Adrienne walked out of the room, leaving the Dupains alone. Marin let her go, staring down at the floor as he heard the door close behind him. "So.”

“Yes?”

“I take it you're not going to help dig me out of this."

“You got yourself in this-”

“Oh, don’t give me that! We had a plan, we had a good, long-term plan-”

“I told you you should've just stuck to the truth in the beginning. She would've found out at some point," Marinette replied, rubbing her arm as she felt more than a slight tinge of guilt about having to spill the secret.

"And how is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"We're just lucky she found out _now_ and not twenty years down the line."

"What am I supposed to do now?" Marin was shaking, his voice rising in panic. "What would you have me do?"

"Be yourself. Let Adrienne see the real you. She'll be mad now, but she'll appreciate it in the long run, and she _will_ love you just how you are." Marinette let her hands rest on both of Marin's shoulders. "Be true."

Marin sniffed, giving a hard look at Marinette. "You realize if you're wrong about this, I will _never_ forgive you. Do you understand me?"

Marinette felt a lump forming in her throat at that as she stared back to him. "I know."


	16. Marin and Adrienne

Marin straightened up, turning around to face the door, opening it into the hallway. He strode over to his room, his heart pounding in his ears. "A-Adrienne?" He rapped three times on the door.

Adrienne sat on the bed with her back leaning against the headboard, staring down at the hands clasped in her lap. She was silent, wondering if she should reply to him or not. 

"Can I come in?" Honestly, she didn't even know if she wanted to see him right now. “Sure. Why not.”

He walked inside, closing the door behind him. He moved over next to Adrienne on the bed, sitting in silence, waiting for her to say something. _Anything._ But she would never-"God, you must be so disgusted with me." She looked up, out of the window, into the brisk and warm morning air.

After a long silence, she finally answered. "I'm disappointed. And upset.” Adrienne cast a sideways glance to him. "You shouldn't have done that. It's caused more trouble than it's worth.”

“It was still worth it.” Adrienne simply shook her head, and Marin nodded. “Okay. You don't like me." Marin sighed, before looking up at Adrienne. "Why should _you_ be so upset? It's my plan that fai-”

"Why am _I_ upset?" Adrienne snapped, turning to look at him. There were tears brimming her eyes, daring to spill over. "Why do you _think_ I'm upset?"

Marin pulled back, shocked. "Because I manipulated your feelings? I don't know! Either way, my plan failed. I get it-"

“It worked.”

“What?”

“Oh, it _worked,_ ” cried out Adrienne. “It worked a little too, well, didn’t it? And now the man _I_ fell for-he’s not even _real_!" Adrienne exclaimed, bringing her hands up to cover her face.

"No." Marin paused. "No, he’s not." Marin nodded, sniffling to himself as a shadow cast itself over him. "Oh, god, it's exactly what I was afraid of."

“What do you mean?”

“I...” His voice began to dry out. “Adrienne, I..I love you. I have loved you from the moment I first laid eyes on you. Did you know that?”

Adrienne nodded. “Adrien told me, but you don’t know that someone loves you until they tell you themselves. And I didn’t know you did for that long..." Adrienne’s voice trailed off as she realized what that entailed. Everything she said about him, that night with Luka at the gala- _I hurt him, didn’t I?_

"And at the same time, I know I'm not entitled to you! No matter what that piece of paper says. If you wanted to go off with Luka, I wouldn’t have stopped you. And if someone else steals your heart, then I’m just going to have to deal with that."

“But you still wanted to try first.”

Marin's head sank. "You know, that night at the gala scared Marinette and Adrien, but you'll never guess who it scared the most. Who it hurt."

“Marin, no.”

"Why?” It was Marin’s turn to hug himself, his hiccups turning into sobs. “Why did you fall in love with him? Is it because he doesn't cry? And because nobody ever assumed he was gay?”

“You know those aren't the reasons wh-”

“Is it because his favorite color is black? And because he doesn't refuse sex from anyone, no matter _how_ drunk he is? Is it because he'll go a hundred-thirty kilometers in a hundred-kilometer zone driving an expensive sports car? And because he doesn't care that he's a full head shorter than his wife? And because he’s not a _sissy who any wife would be ashamed of_?"

Adrienne felt each word of that last sentence stab into her heart. "I fell in love with him because I thought it was _you_. Couldn't you have trusted me enough to at least show me who you truly are?" She shook off the words with a silent sob. "I don't care about all of that superficial and materialistic shit, Marin. I thought I was getting to know the real you."

“Yeah. You, the supermodel princess of France, not superficial and materialistic?” Marin burst out laughing, and for a second it seemed the tears of sadness were tears of joy all along. Adrienne balled up her fists, snapping at Marin. “You shouldn't have to change yourself completely to make me happy, no matter how much you love me! Even if everyone sees me as a prissy supermodel. Even if you think _my_ standards are too high!"

“I would do anything for you. _Anything_. Do you think I love you so little that I wouldn’t change every little bit of myself for your liking?”

“Do you think I love you so little that I wouldn’t love you for who you were?” Marin paused a little before nodding his head. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

He slid next to her. "It's funny. I can speak four languages. I'm studying at one of the most elite schools in the world. I brought back an entire language from the dead when I was sixteen. The country I will lead will be the second largest in Europe, with more than 75 million people and a nominal GDP of over three and a half trillion. But when I saw you with Luka, I knew that none of that would be enough. And it never will."

 _No,_ thought Adrienne, her heart sinking in her chest. “The fact that you’re not Luka doesn't mean you can't impress me in your own way, Marin.” Adrienne hugged herself, her gaze focusing intently on her lap and away from Marin at her side. “Maybe if you would've let me see who you are instead of this façade you've been putting on, I would've been impressed by you.”

Marin’s voice lowered. “Do you _really_ want to know the real me? Really?”

“I do-” Adrienne said that a bit too quickly-so she paused before repeating what she said. “I do. I would've rather known the _real_ you all along...instead of whoever you made me think you were.”

“Oh-okay. Are you sure?” His voice shot up. Adrienne nodded, and Marin cleared his throat. "Well, for one thing...this is my real voice." His voice was higher and more boyish-not like Luka's, at all. _Cute, even._ Marin gave a small laugh. "Do you like it?"

Adrienne slowly lifted her head from her knees, turning her head to look at him. "You've...been changing your voice this whole time?"

"Yeah.” Marin’s voice slightly lowered again. “You don't like it?"

She stopped before shaking her head, asking quietly, "It's a lot of work to maintain it, isn't it?" Her voice sounded different now as well. She had let her tone drop back into her natural voice-low and slightly raspy.

“What?”

“Everything? The image, the branding, having to suck up to everyone and promise everything?”

"I think it's slightly easier for you. You're perfect." Marin glared at her, daring her to compare herself to him. "And you deserve someone just as perfect as you."

"Well, maybe you _would_ be perfect. _I_ wouldn't know." She shot back, letting her face fall forward and back into her knees again.

"Take my word for it. I wouldn't." Marin blinked. "Ballet.”

“Hm?”

“That's what I did instead of football in Lyceé."

"Really?" She asked, now muffled from having her face pressed into her knees. She was silent for a minute, and then asked, "Were you any good?"

"I like to think so." Marin nodded. "Yeah." He paused. "Are you already convinced that I wouldn't be a perfect husband, or should I go on even more?"

"Tell me more." Her arms were wrapped snugly around her legs. Although Adrienne was still extremely upset about being lied to for so long, she couldn't help but be curious when it came to finding out who he really was.

 _No,_ he wanted to say. _Stop this right now._ But like Adrienne's curiosity driving her towards searching for more, his own morbid senses carried him on towards answering her. "My favorite color is pink. I do Marinette’s makeup...and sometimes, she does mine.” Marin looked up, and Adrienne slid her hand onto his.

He started shaking. A tear welled up out of the corner of his eyes as his breath became harsh and haggard once again. “I cry. A lot. I’m doing it right now. And I talk a lot more than I should. I'm shorter than you are. And my other...measurements might not be to your standards either." Marin stopped. "Are you convinced now?"

Adrienne sat in silence, thinking about what Marin said. Her head dipped down into a little nod in regards to his question. "I think I'm convinced about one thing for certain."

"What is it?" Marin shook his head as if to change his own mind.

He stood up, looking to move for the door, but still in arm's length of Adrienne. "Actually, I think I can skip the 'great guy' speech." Marin started to walk for the door but was restrained by Adrienne’s arm, which had grasped his wrist.

"Marin, listen to me-"

“-I’m not gonna be ‘just good friends’ with my own _wife_ -”

“You’re enough!” Marin turned back to Adrienne, a small, sad, smile on his face. “Marin, you’re enough.” There was another pause as weeks and weeks of tension began to relieve.

“In fact, I like the real you better than that fake persona you had." Marin sighed incredulously. “Why?”

“Well, first of all, we actually have something in common.” She smiled. “But more than that...it's your true, vulnerable self. It's your flaws and everything you don’t want others to see. It’s the true version of the man I get to marry. I like that Marin a lot better than one that's been carefully planned and created to be seen as absolutely perfect by everyone else in the world.” The corners of Adrienne’s lips tugged into a small smile, and she reassured him, “You're a million times better this way, trust me.”

"I don't need you to lie to me, Adrienne."

"Really?" Adrienne deadpanned, that same smile still on her face. "After being lied to for, what, nearly a month now? You expect _me_ of all people to lie to you?"

"Why not? Do you expect me to think you've just miraculously changed preferences in the last 48 hours?" Adrienne almost looked shocked at the accusation. "God, no. Does the timeframe of me changing who I decide to love have to be so short?”

“N-no, but...are you sure? That I could love you the way you want? That I could _s_ _atisfy_ you?” Adrienne was reminded of what Luka had said early that morning. She thought about it. _Could he?_ She pursed her lips. _Yes,_ she thought to herself. _He can._ "I'm sure of it. No matter what anyone else tries to tell you, I know we can make this work if we actually try."

Marin hung his head before sitting next to Adrienne. "I'm sorry." His voice was shaky, though the sobs went away. A single tear rolled down his cheek. "I just wanted you to like me."

"I know. I know. It’s okay." Adrienne lifted her head to look over to him, moving herself to drape her arms around him, burying her nose in the crook of his neck.

Marin raised his head and smiled. "You know, I know it's redundant at this point, and I don't even have a ring, but I'd feel kind of creeped out if I didn't ask you for confirmation..." He slid off of the bed, getting on one knee.

Adrienne got up and sat at the edge of the bed in Marin’s place with confusion in her eyes. Marin took her hand, looking up at her with his eyes still glittering with tears-tears of sadness and anxiety mixed with tears of joy and relief. "Will you?"

 

Adrienne was already nodding her head, her hand flying to her mouth as her face went beet red and her own tears began to form.


	17. Epilogue: Six Months Later

“...But perhaps something even more important than celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ once a year this holiday season are the messages he teaches us every single day. These are lessons Occitanians don’t take lightly. Occitanians like Prime Minister Bustier traveled to Syria this year as a peacemaker. Christ would refer to her today as a child of God. Or my mother the Queen, who hungered and thirsted for righteousness and justice while serving on the European Union’s Task Force for Refugee Resettlement. With a small amount of pride, I’m reminded of my own work with the Princeton University Red Cross, delivering food and medical supplies to underserved communities across the state of New Jersey.

“Only a few people acknowledged Jesus when he was born, and fewer still acknowledged him when he was reborn; now, billions across the world follow him. I believe his message of peace on earth and goodwill to all is never out of date. It can be heeded by everyone, regardless of faith. And in these trying times, it's needed as much as ever.” Marin grinned as he knew that the final lines of the speech were coming up. “Happy holidays to you all.”

“Aaaaand...cut!”

“Thank god,” said Marin as he adjusted his tie. Technicians and makeup artists flooded him, touching him up for another take. If there  _ was  _ to be another take. “How’d I do?”

“You...did...golden, my guy.” Alya held out a hand to hi-five. “Up top!”

Marin’s hand met hers. “Is that really how my style is? ‘His Guy, Prince Marin Dupa-’”

“ _ Fiiiine  _ , I’m sorry. You did golden, your high-”

“Guy-ness. We’re calling it guy-ness now.” From the other side of the room, Marinette groaned in her dolled-up look. She was wearing a rather festive outfit for her own address-one of her design, of course. “Can we fiiiinish-”

“Marin’s done.”

“I’m done?”

“You’re done.”

“Great.”

“He’s done?”

“I’m done.”

“Nice.” Marinette turned to Alya. “Babe. How long before I’m ready for my beauty shot?”

“Not that long. Just give us a sec.”

“Kay, babe!”

“I’ll text you.” And with that, Alya was gone, leaving Marin and Marinette to stare out of the window. The snow was coming down hard, but there was no chance of cold breezes seeping inside the Dupain’s cozy winter retreat in Megéve. The roaring fire and the central heating made sure that the Dupains were nice and toasty. “So.”

“So” Marinette echoed, watching the snow create a blanket of white that covered the landscape.

“I’m glad you came back for Christmas break. I’ve missed you. And I know Adrienne has too.” She smiled, playing mindlessly with her engagement ring, a habit she had happily adopted.

“I dunno-she came over to visit a couple of times. But I missed you too, sis,” said Marin, dressed in a dull pink shirt and blue blazer impeccably paired with a pair of blue slacks, hot pink tie, and brown loafers.

He seemed relaxed now, almost entirely at peace. No longer was he seemingly resorting to snarky turns of phrase; every word coming out of his mouth was genuine.

She returned the warm smile and nodded. “This is going to be our first Christmas with our fiancés. Isn’t that an exciting thought?”

Marin nodded. "I think Gabriel's assistant called ahead. He said that their jet is flying in a few minutes early." Marin smiled. "God, this really would have been unthinkable a year ago. Wouldn't it?"

“I mean, we knew engagements were coming. But to think everything ended up working so well.” She shrugged with a smile. “I think it’s better than any of us could have hoped. Certainly better than you predicted in the beginning.” She smirked.

Marin closed his eyes. "I'm...I'm surprised it did work out so well. Why d'you think-"

“Marinette!” The door flew open, and not two seconds later, Marinette was tackled with extreme care by her blond fiancé.

“Oof!” Marinette gave a hard wheeze as he slammed into her. “I missed you too, Adrien,” she giggled.

Adrienne came in slightly more composed but no less as excited as she ran in her heels to hug Marin. “Merry Christmas Eve,” She cried, grinning at her in-laws.

As always, she was immaculate; a black cotton short-sleeved black turtleneck, with black slacks, green-tinted sunglasses ( _ don’t be as snowblind as us, Adrienne _ , Marinette remembered joking,) and a jade necklace-  _ a gift from Marin _ , Marinette thought. Circling her arms and waist was a black fur coat. “You get even more handsome every time I see you.” She grinned, stepping back but keeping his hand. Marinette raised an eyebrow. “Adrienne? Is that a-”

“Faux! A faux coat.” Marinette nodded with more than a note of mock sternness. “That’s my girl.”

"I missed you too, Marinette."

Adrien pulled her in for a quick kiss, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist before pulling away ever so slightly-albeit with their foreheads together. His face was beaming. "How were finals for you, babe? Couldn't be any worse than what I had."

Marin still lightly blushed whenever Adrienne complimented him; it was a habit he still had trouble shaking off. "Flattery is going to get you nowhere...but thank you."

Adrienne smirked. “I disagree. Flattery gets you everywhere. But I’m with you, so I’m not going anywhere now.” She squeezed his hand softly.

Marin backed away from his fianceé, scanning Adrienne up and down. "You don't look so bad yourself. I'm sure Marinette would approve." He turned to his sister. "Wouldn't you?"

Marinette reluctantly broke away from Adrien at Marin’s prompt, giving Adrienne a quick once over and an approving grin. “Velvet is very in right now, but I’m convinced at this point that the Agreste twins could wear potato sacks and still pull it off.”

Adrien raised an eyebrow, looking at Adrienne with stars in his eyes. "Can we do that? A photoshoot with potato sacks?"

“Marilyn Monroe was just a few years ahead of you on that one,” Adrienne smirked, taking Marin’s arm. “We can discuss that later. Do Occitans have the tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve too?”

"I don't..." Marin looked at Marinette. "Think so...but at the same time, I don't see why not." He looked at Adrienne with a wry smile. "Why, is there a gift you had in mind?"

Adrienne smirked coyly. “Wouldn’t you like to know? Here isn’t the place though. We need a Christmas tree and a fire. Then, maybe I’ll let you see your present.”

"Alright." Marin extended his arm to Adrienne, offering it to her. "Marinette still has to record her Christmas message, but I'm free to go. You coming?"

“Absolutely.” She smiled, accepting his arm and giving a small wave to her brother, who murmured that he and Marinette would join them when she finished up her speech.

“Alright, handsome,” proclaimed Adrienne as soon as they were in the imposing tree room. “I’m all yours.” She grinned as they walked in step together. “So, how have you been?”

“I’ve...been better. I’m seeing someone.” She raised an eyebrow and turned to him with a shocked, expectant look. “I’m sorry?”

“No, like-! It’s not what you think!” Marin’s hands flew up defensively and apologetically. “She’s a professional! She helps me out!”

“Marin!”

“Therapy! CBT!” 

She paused.  _ Oh. Oh,  _ that _ kind of professional. I’m a dumbass.  _ “Oh. I see.” She smiled, relieved that Marin wasn’t seeing a prostitute and a little embarrassed for letting her mind go straight to the gutter like that. “Yes. I’m glad you’re getting the help you need.”

“You think I need it? I thought I was just going crazy...”

“Marin. My brother once told you that you’re the only one who thinks those negative things you feel about yourself. Really and truly. And if you think that talking to someone will help, then I’m not going to second-guess you on that.” Marin pursed his lips, letting out a small smile. “Thank you, Adrienne.”

“No problem.” Adrienne sighed as they continued to walk towards the tree room. “So, since this is our first Christmas together, I guess now is the time for making new traditions since we’re blending cultures. Are there any that you’d like to propose?”

"Well, you wanted to open a present, right? We can start there."

“If I’m allowed to be overly demanding, I think I’d like to make sure we keep the mistletoe tradition too.” She grinned as they walked into the tree room. A magnificent evergreen dressed for the holiday. “Oh, it’s beautiful.” She breathed with awe.

"Alright. Mistletoe's one of yours," Marin nodded. "Whatever you say." He looked up to see the lines of mistletoe looming over the both of them. The old habits of Marinette and Adrien's romantic chicanery died hard, Marin supposed. "Oh-We don't have to-"

Adrienne shook her head “No one ever has to. But I want to.” She took a step closer to him, her hand softly cupping his cheek. “Do you?”

"God, do you even have to ask?" He folded his cheek into her hand, beaming at her.

She smiled before gently closing the distance between their lips, her arms wrapped around his shoulders as she kissed him.

Marin fell into her embrace. He loved it when she took over for a second-regardless of what it said about him. "Oh!" Marin gave a small little 'meep,' remembering  _ the present _ . "The present you wanted to open!"

“The present  _ I  _ want  _ you  _ to open actually.” She smirked, reluctantly stepping back. “They should have put all the presents we brought over under the tree by now. Do you wanna see?”

Marin nodded. “Sure! Sure, yeah.” He looked under the tree. “So...which one did you want me to open?”

She smiled and picked out a single package from the piles of wrapped gifts under the tree. It was a modestly sized rectangular-shaped gift wrapped in a gold foil gift wrap. She sat down on one of the plush couches and handed it to him. “Merry Christmas, Marin.”

“Oh my god-“ Marin looked at Adrienne with a knowing smirk, showing off the packaging back to her. “Typical Agreste Bougieness. As per usual.”

She grinned, bumping him with her shoulder. “Only the best right?” She bit her lip in anticipation. “Go on, open it!”

Marin was already on it, tearing open the packaging. “Okay, okay, miss-“ He froze when he saw it. “Oh.” A smile graced his face. “Oh, I...so that’s why you needed my pictures.” He was looking down at a rather thick scrapbook-one that looked fresh, new, and pristine. It was made with a computer, and not by hand with paste and scissors, but this scrapbook was made with no less love than if it had been. “This...this is so sweet, Adrienne!”

She nodded softly. “It’s mostly stuff either you sent me or stuff I took. There are a few pictures of articles I didn’t hate and some notes I write when I was missing you that I promised myself I’d never let you see but oh well.” She shrugged, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. “It’s lavender scented too. Like from our summer trip.”

“You did that?” Marin looked at her, genuinely surprised. “Write notes?”

She shrugged with a nod. “Who was it that said writing keeps their mind orderly? It helps me sort out what I’m thinking and feeling. Mostly it’s just missing you. Certain things will remind me of you. Croissants in the morning. Rain. Lavender. So I write.”

Marin nodded, opening the book nearly to the last page. “Hey, this was when...” Marin had several days of time off towards the end of November. Princeton was celebrating a holiday he’d never heard about, and he was left in the States with no plans.

As soon as he told her, Adrienne rented out a small cottage in the Catskills and hopped the next flight to JFK. “You know, you really overdid yourself for that one," Marin cooed.

“No such thing when it comes to time with you.” She smiled softly. “Pissing off Father was just a bonus.”

“You skipped a week of school for me,” mumbled Marin. “Maybe I am a secret bad boy, and I just don’t know.” He flipped through the pages before stopping at a particular picture of Adrienne, kneeling at the bottom of a cave while covering herself up with Marin's jacket, a broad smile on her face. "Oh my god, you actually snuck that in?"

"My happiest memory, Marin."

"Mine too..."  _ Now that was one hell of a hike _ , Marin thought. “I mean...true. Just look at that picture. The things we did in that cave...” He let out another smile at his rare bawdy joke.

“Marin!” She gasped with a look of false horror on her face and whacked his shoulder before fanned her face delicately. “I’m sure I have  _ no idea  _ what you’re talking about.”

“That was...” He paused.  _ No. Monaco didn’t quite count, did it?  _ “Yeah.” He looked up at Adrienne. “Let’s skip this page when you show it Adrien and Marinette, how about that?”

“Show what to us?” Marinette’s voice sounded from the door. Adrien’s arm was around her waist as they walked. She must have finished with her Christmas message.

“Nothing!” Marin closed the book. His face flushed a deep red. “Adrienne gave me this scrapbook. It’s...from the last six months, I’m guessing from the summer onward. It’s adorable. Did you know that Adrienne wrote notes to herself when she missed me when I was at school?”

“I read her diary when we were twelve, but beyond that, no.” Adrien shook his head. Adrienne shot him a glare that would have terrified anyone but him and quickly changed the subject. “Yes well I assume that means you two are good for the rest of the night?”

“Yep,” chirped Marinette. “Got my message  _ in one take _ ! Can you say that, bro?”

“No...no, I can’t.” Marin smiled, patting Marinette’s head. “But can you say that your husband got you a scrapbook you’re gonna show to your kids in twenty years?”

Marinette glanced at Adrien, who raised his hands apologetically. “No... _ no, I can’t  _ .” She turned to Adrienne. “Show us! What’s in there?”

Adrienne laughed and shrugged. “It’s just pictures and articles and stuff of the two of us. It was either this or an overpriced shaving kit.”

“Oh, because we all know how much facial hair I grow. That’s such a problem I have.”

“It was better than Chloé’s suggestion. She’s been reading way too much Cosmopolitan.”  Adrienne shook her head. “Anyway, what are you two planning for this hallowed night?”

Marinette raised her finger in alarm. “Wait, we need to...” Marin nodded. “Crap, the yule logs!” He turned to Adrienne. “It’s a thing we do. One log for us, one log for the staff. Our little way of saying ‘thank you.’” Marin turned to Marinette, then to the Agrestes, then back to Marinette. “Right. D’you think we can trust them in the kitchen? The logs are going to be a little labor intensive. We can use the help.” Marinette bit her lip and turned to Adrien, pretend to think while looking him over. “Yeah, I’m sure they’ll be able to manage.” She grinned. Adrienne smiled, squeezing Marin’s hand. “Whatever you guys need from us we’ve got you.”

“‘Nette, how about you fire up those ovens? I’ll be with you in a second. I wanna see something with Adrienne.” Marinette nodded, letting Adrien walk in front of her.

She was about to disappear from the room when Marin called out to her. “Marinette! Wait.”

Marinette stopped at the door frame, turning over her shoulder. “Yeah?”

Marin smiled at her. “I just wanted to say. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I doubted you, and I’m sorry I doubted myself.” He looked up at Adrienne, placing his head gently on her shoulder. “And...thank you, Marinette. For everything.”

“From both of us,” Adrienne nodded earnestly.  

A soft smile broke out on Marinette’s face at the sight of her brother and his fiancée. “You’re welcome.” She gave a small bounce before turning to follow Adrien.

Adrienne sighed happily, looking down at her adoring boyfriend. “As much as it pains me to admit it. I’m kind of thankful for their scheming shenanigans.”

“You mean,  _ our  _ scheming shenanigans?” Marin scratched the back of his neck. “I was a part of it too, remember?”

“I prefer to think of your part as misguided wooing.” She smirked, shaking her head. “You did it because you cared. I can’t blame you for that. However ill-advised it was.”

“Hey, I thought it wasn’t going to work,” said Marin offhandedly. He opened the scrapbook to one of the very first pages. “Wow.”

It was almost like Marin was back in that lavender field, with the smell and look of the page. He took it in Aix, when Marinette and Adrien had ran off on them. The dark storm clouds that were hovering over behind Marin when he took the shot were nowhere to be seen. “I remember that day.”  _ The day I fell in love with her, for real.  _ “Do you?”

“How could I forget?” She smiled, kicking off her heels and drawing her legs up on the couch and leaning against him. “Getting trapped in that church with you was one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”

“Why’s that?” Marin leaned back against the couch.

“We talked. Like,  _ talked  _ talked. For the first time. Don’t get me wrong, I was furious at first.” She laughed softly. “But that day is  _ important  _ to me. And look how far we’ve come since then even.”

“That’s our first date,” realized Marin.

Adrienne nodded. “Trapped in a church in the rain because our twins ditched us. That should make a good story to tell, well,  _ whoever  _ happens in the future.”  _ The future  _ . Six or even five months ago, the thought might have terrified her. But a future with Marin? Now, that was something she could see.

Marin nodded and flipped a few more pages. His heard did a double take at the first photo he saw, and his heart took a dip.

It was a picture of a window of Marin and Adrienne’s room in Nice, looking outside. What was jarring was when Marin took it; right after their argument, after Marinette spilled everything and many a tear was shed. “I...uh.”  They never had a proper talk about what had happened, or why it did after that day. “Yeah.” He moved to close the book and stand up. “Hey, listen, we should probably-“

“I’m glad that day happened,” she interrupted as he went to stand up. He ignored her, pretending not to hear. “I-”

“Wait.” She caught his hand, pulling him gently back down to the couch. “As awful as it was in the moment. It brought everything into the light. So we’re able to move forward. Right?”

“Yeah.” Marin lied through his teeth, at least partially; he didn’t want Adrienne to catch in on those old anxieties. “I just...I was surprised you’d miss me so much.” He turned to the roaring fire. “It’s just that. It’s just that I was four thousand miles away, and you were still getting over Luka, and I...should stop talking.” He squeezed her hand. “I just...I want you to love me as much as I love you, if not more. For all my faults as a man and a person and a king, despite them if not because of them. Is that too much to ask?” His eyes were glittering in the light of the fire. “Am I selfish?”

She put her other hand over his. “Marin, you were four thousand miles away, and I was still getting over Luka. How could I not miss you?” She shook her head softly. “Asking to be loved isn’t selfish. That’s the very least that you deserve. Marin, we’re heirs to thrones with the world at our fingertips. You could ask me for anything, and I could and would give it to you. Jewels, cars, palaces. And here you are asking for something that already belongs to you.” She took his hand and kissed it before pressing it over her heart.

"You know I don't deserve you, right? I don't, and there's a whole bunch of people out there who agree with me..." Marin cleared his throat, leaning in towards Adrienne. "Adrienne? If there's anything you need me to change about myself, say the word..." She could feel his hot breath on her lips.

She sighed. It was an empty promise; they were both too stubborn for their own good. “Fine,” She breathed, her lips barely brushing his. “I want you to start loving yourself as much as you love me.” She smirked. “Care to show me how much that is?”

"Mhm." Marin gave a slow nod before pressing their lips together, his hand sliding up her chest and neck to the side of her head. She melted in his kiss, returning it without hesitation as her slender fingers tangled themselves in his soft black hair. She broke away with a soft sigh. “I love you too.”

"Should we go?" Marin's voice was almost a whisper. "I'm sure Marinette and Adrien need some help."

“The evening’s still young,” she sighed, regretfully shifting back as he stood up and began to walk over. “If there’s anyone who has a hope of keeping my brother from creating a culinary explosion it’s Marinette, though.” She smiled, running up to him and pressing her lips to his in a quick stolen peck before sliding her hand in his arm and walking with him to the kitchen.

  
  



End file.
